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SEX 
DETERMINATION 


F.A.E.CREW 


iTHUEN'S  MONOGRAPHS  ON 
QP  BIOLOGICAL  SUBJECTS 

251 

C  86    : 


METHUEN'S 

MONOGRAPHS   ON 

BIOLOGICAL   SUBJECTS 

General  Editor:  Michael  Abercrombie 


SEX-DETERMINATION 


Sex- 
Determination 


F.  A.   E.  CREW,   F.R.s. 

Professor  of  Social  Medicine  and 

formerly  Professor  of  Animal  Genetics 

in  the  University  of  Edinburgh 


LONDON:  METHUEN  &  CO.  LTD. 
NEW  YORK:  JOHN  WILEY  &  SONS,  INC. 


First  Published  January  26th  1933 

Second  Edition  October  gth  1946 

Third  Edition,  Revised^  1954 


3-1 
CATALOGUE   NO.   4115/U 
PRINTED    IN   GREAT    BRITAIN 


PREFACE 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  present  the  saUent  facts 
relating  to  sex-determination  and  to  guide  the  student 
to  further  reading.  It  presupposes  that  the  reader  al- 
ready has  a  fair  knowledge  of  genetics  and  cytology;  it 
restricts  itself  to  a  consideration  of  the  cytological  and 
genetical  aspects  of  sex-determination  and  does  not 
consider  the  problems  that  cluster  round  the  actual 
development  of  the  sexual  characters,  since  such  de- 
velopment pertains  not  to  sex-determination  but  rather 
to  sex-differentiation. 

Those  who  wish  to  explore  more  fully  the  matters 
touched  upon  in  this  book  are  advised  to  turn  to 
Advances  in  Genetics ^  edited  by  M.  Demerec,  four 
volumes  of  which  have  been  published  so  far  in  1947- 
195 1  by  Academic  Press  Incorporated,  New  York,  and  to 
The  Evolution  of  Genetic  Systems  by  C.  D.  Darlington, 
published  in  1946  by  the  Cambridge  University  Press. 
Such  as  wish  to  proceed  from  a  study  of  sex- determina- 
tion to  one  of  sex- differentiation  can  profitably  refer  to 
F.  H.  A.  Marshall's  Physiology  of  Reproduction,  third 
edition,  edited  by  A.  S.  Parkes  and  published  in  1952 
by  Longmans,  Green,  London,  or  to  Sex  atid  Internal 
Secretions,  edited  by  Edgar  Allen  and  published  in  1939 
by  Williams  and  Wilkins  Company,  Baltimore. 

^^^^^^  F.A.  E.  C. 

EDINBURGH 
1953 


CONTENTS 

Ctt\P.  PAGE 

PREFACE  V 

1 .  THE  GENETIC  THEORY  OF  SEX-DETERMINATION  I 

2.  THE   SEX-CHROMOSOMES    AND    SEX-DETERMINATION. 

THE   SEX-RATIO  9 

3.  SEX-LINKAGE.         NON-DISJUNCTION.         GYNANDRO- 

MORPHISM  18 

4.  SEX-DETERMINATION  IN  HABROBRACON,  SCIARA  AND 

LYMANTRIA  DISPAR  3° 

5.  GENETIC     INTERSEXUALITY     IN    DROSOPHILA,     CER- 

TAIN  LEPIDOPTERA   AND    BIRDS  42 

6.  SEX-DETERMINATION  IN  FISH  AND  THE  LOWER  ALGAE. 

SEX  IN  PARAMECIUM  AND  FUNGI.  SEX-DETERMINA- 
TION IN  BRYOPHYTES.  SEX  IN  THE  HIGHER  PLANTS         46 

7.  SPECULATIONS  CONCERNING  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE 

SEX-DETERMINING  MECHANISM  5 1 

BIBLIOGIL\PHY  55 


GLOSSARY 


62 


AUTHOR  INDEX  65 

SUBJECT  INDEX  67 

72336 


Vll 


CHAPTER    I 

THE   GENETIC   THEORY   OF 
SEX-DETERMINATION 

Sex  (L.  seco,  to  cut),  the  distinction  between  male  and  female,  the 
property  by  which  an  individual  is  male  or  female.  Sexuality,  the 
quality  of  being  distinguished  by  sex. 

From  the  ver^^  beginning  of  human  existence  a  difference 
between  the  two  contrasted  types  we  know  as  male  and 
female  respectively  must  have  been  recognized.  Within 
every  individual  the  force  of  sexuality  has  operated  to  focus 
thought  upon  matters  sexual  and  to  yield  an  intense  aware- 
ness of  the  sexually  contrasted  form.  It  can  safely  be  assumed 
that  this  observed  difference  in  mankind  and  in  the  animals 
man  domesticated  has  at  all  times  intrigued  the  human  mind 
and  provoked  speculation  concerning  its  significance  and 
causation.  Every  individual  displays  the  property  of  sexu- 
ality and  by  his  own  experience  knows  of  it.  Speculation  con- 
cerning it  has  never  been  restricted  to  students  of  biology; 
any  man  can  claim  to  be  his  own  authority. 

The  observations  that  required  an  explanation  were  but 
few  to  begin  with.  Maleness  and  femaleness  were  attributes 
which  were  exercised  in  the  sexual  relationship.  The  sexual 
union  of  male  and  female  resulted  in  reproduction,  in  the 
production  of  offspring  among  whom  males  and  females 
appeared  in  more  or  less  equal  numbers.  In  this  production 
by  a  male  and  a  female  of  males  and  females  there  was  to  be 
observed  an  orderliness  and  a  precision  which  suggested  that 
some  relatively  simple  mechanism  was  involved. 

Hypotheses  concerning  the  way  in  which  and  the  time 
during  the  life  history  of  the  individual  at  which  sex  is 
determined  have  been  plentiful.  For  the  most  part  they 
were  elaborated  at  a  time  when  little  or  nothing  was  known 
of  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  cell,  of  cell  division,  of 
gametogenesis  and  of  fertilization,  or  they  were  constructed 
by  such  as  were  unaware  of,  or  chose  to  disregard,  what  was 

I 


2  SEX-DETERMINATION 

known  concerning  these  matters.  Up  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  each  of  them  in  its  turn  was  destroyed  when 
it  proved  to  be  incapable  of  accommodating  some  new 
observation.  In  retrospect  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  it 
came  about  that  a  theory  derived  from  and  based  upon  the 
experience  of  an  obstetrician,  for  example,  could  not  be 
stretched  to  include  the  outcome  of  the  experience  of  a 
breeder  of  habitually  polytocous  livestock. 

Then,  as  the  studies  of  the  zoologist  and  of  the  botanist 
widened  to  include  an  ever-expanding  number  of  species,  it 
is  understandable  how  it  happened  that  a  theory  elaborated 
by  a  zoologist  proved  to  be  of  no  value  whatsoever  to  a 
botanist  who  had  encountered  in  his  material  phenomena 
strongly  resembling  those  of  sexuality  in  the  animal.  That 
for  which  men  continually  sought  was  a  theory  that  could 
accommodate  all  that  was  known  about  the  phenomenon  of 
sexuality  wherever  it  appeared,  and  as  this  knowledge  ex- 
panded the  difficulties  of  constructing  a  satisfactory  theory 
of  the  causation  of  sex  multiplied. 

Each  of  these  theories  of  sex-determination  has  to  be 
examined  against  the  background  of  the  total  biological 
knowledge  that  was  in  man's  possession  at  the  time  when 
the  theory  was  promulgated.  If  it  accommodated  all  the 
observations  thus  far  made,  and  if  it  was  a  reasonable, 
intelligent  groping  after  understanding,  then  in  its  day  it  was 
a  good  and  useful  theory.  That  it  is  now  unwarrantable  in 
the  light  of  our  vastly  increased  knowledge  of  matters 
biological  in  no  way  robs  the  theory  of  its  merit. 

By  the  beginning  of  this  century  our  knowledge  of  the 
cell,  of  gametogenesis  and  of  fertilization  had  become 
greatly  expanded,  and  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  century, 
as  an  outcome  of  the  confirmation  of  the  Mendelian  theory 
of  organic  inheritance,  much  attention  became  focused  upon 
the  mode  of  transmission  of  inherited  characters  and  the 
search  began  for  the  actual  mechanism  of  segregation  that 
was  postulated  by  the  Mendelian  theory.  Thus  it  was  that 
the  sciences  of  genetics  and  of  cytology  entered  into  a  phase 
of  intensely  active  development. 

The  facts  to   be  accommodated  by  a  theory  of  sex- 


GENETIC   THEORY  3 

determination  could  now  be  stated  more  exactly.  In  a  wide 
variety  of  species  sex-dimorphism  occurs;  within  them  there 
are  males  and  females.  Sexual  reproduction,  taking  the  form 
of  the  fusion,  permanently  or  temporarily,  of  two  complete 
individuals  or  parts  thereof  or  in  the  union  of  single  cells 
derived  from  one  and  the  same  individual  or  from  two 
individuals,  occurs  in  all  those  groups  of  organisms  in 
which  the  presence  of  a  nucleus  has  been  demonstrated. 
In  the  higher  forms  sexual  reproduction  consists  in  the 
formation  of  single  cells,  the  gametes,  the  separation  of 
these  from  the  rest  of  the  individual  and  their  subsequent 
fusion  in  pairs  to  form  the  zygotes,  the  new  individuals  of 
a  new  generation.  In  most  of  these  forms  two  kinds  of 
gametes  are  to  be  found — a  small,  active,  motile  gamete 
elaborated  by  the  male  (or  by  the  testis  of  the  herma- 
phrodite) and  a  relatively  large,  inactive,  non-motile  gamete 
elaborated  by  the  female  (or  by  the  ovary  of  the  herma- 
phrodite). These  gametes  constitute  the  only  organic  bridge 
connecting  the  generations. 

Usually  during  spermatogenesis  the  nucleus  and  the 
cytoplasm  of  a  cell  are  equally  divided  among  four  functional 
spermatozoa,  whilst  during  oogenesis  three  of  the  products 
of  division  are  suppressed  and  extruded  to  become  the  polar 
bodies,  only  one  remaining  to  become  the  functional  ovum. 

The  simplest  form  of  spermatozoon  consists  of  four  parts: 
(i)  the  nucleus  forming  the  head;  (2)  the  centrosome,  a  non- 
nuclear  body  forming  the  middle  piece  from  which  the 
axial  filament  of  the  vibratile  tail  is  developed;  (3)  the  mito- 
chondria, bodies  of  non-nuclear  origin  which  form  the 
sheath  of  this  filament,  and  (4)  ordinary  cytoplasm  which 
forms  a  thin  coat  over  the  head  and  tail.  The  nucleus  alone 
is  the  constant  constituent  of  the  spermatozoon;  it  alone 
fuses  with  the  nucleus  of  the  ovum.  No  other  organ  save 
the  centrosome  takes  any  part  in  the  development  of  the 
new  individual. 

The  essential  feature  of  sexuality  is  the  production  of  two 
different  kinds  of  gametes  by  the  individuals  of  a  species, 
male-type  by  the  male,  female-type  by  the  female.  Fusion 
between  gametes  is  restricted  to  such  as  possess  and  display 


4  SEX-DETERMINATION 

contrasted  characters  (details  of  structure  and  of  behaviour) 
and  usually  to  such  as  are  derived  from  two  sexuallv  con- 
trasted individuals. 

The  division  of  a  cell  into  two  by  simple  fission  is  no  mere 
casual  cleavage;  it  is  a  process  of  precision,  karyokinesis  or 
mitosis,  the  essential  feature  of  which  is  the  exact  halving 
of  the  two  chief  constituents  of  the  cell,  the  nucleus  and  the 
cytoplasm,  so  that  the  two  daughter  cells  that  result  are 
save  in  respect  of  initial  size,  exact  copies  of  the  cell  that 
produced  them. 

The  most  striking  features  of  mitosis  are  the  exact  and 
precise  division  of  the  chromosomes  and  the  precise  distri- 
bution of  the  daughter  chromosomes  so  formed.  In  respect 
of  their  chromosome  constitution  the  daughter  cells  are 
exact  copies  of  the  mother  cell  that  produced  them. 

In  each  and  every  species  there  is  a  characteristic  number 
ot  chromosomes  within  the  nuclei  of  its  component  cells 
I;^or  example,  man  has  forty-eight  (Evans  and  Swezy,  1020). 
These  exist  in  the  form  of  pairs,  the  members  of  any  given 
pair  (with  one  exception  later  to  be  considered)  being  alike 
m  size,  shape  and  behaviour  during  cell-division. 

This  constancy  of  the  chromosome  number  could  not 
exist  if  at  fertilization  both  the  egg  and  the  sperm  brought 
into  the  new  zygote  that  number  of  chromosomes  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  species.  Offspring  have  the  same  num- 
ber as  the  parents  (polymitotic  forms  and  polyploidy  being 
disregarded).  Constancy  is  maintained  by  a  reduction  of  the 
chromosome  number  to  a  half  during  gametogenesis.  The 
existence   of  this   process  was  postulated   by  Weismann 
u     ''Vxr,  ^^  hypothesis  has  been  verified  universally  since 
then.  Wherever  there  is  fertilization  there  is  also  reduction 
which  in  essence  consists  of  two  divisions  of  the  nucleus  of 
the  cell  associated  with  one  division  of  its  chromosomes 
with  the  result  that  four  daughter  nuclei  are  produced,  each 
ot  these  having  half  the  number  (the  haploid  number)  of 
chromosomes  characteristic  of  the  species.  Meiosis,  this 
process  of  reduction,  is  a  modification  of  mitosis. 

Fertilization  consists  essentially  in  the  bringing  together 
ot  two  half-sets  of  chromosomes  and  the  consequent  re- 


GENETIC   THEORY  5 

establishment  of  the  characteristic  chromosome  number. 
One  member  of  each  of  the  pairs  of  chromosomes  with 
which  the  new  individual  is  endowed  comes  by  way  of  the 
spermatozoon  from  the  father;  its  mate  comes  by  way  of 
the  ovum  from  the  mother. 

Many  of  the  details  of  structure  and  function  that  are 
exhibited  by  the  individual  are  the  expression  of  the  heredi- 
tary constitution  of  the  individual.  Mendel  postulated  that 
such  characters  were  brought  into  being  by  the  action  of 
'hereditary  factors'.  In  every  individual's  constitution,  and 
in  respect  of  any  given  character,  there  were  two  such  factors, 
only  one  of  which  passed  into  each  gamete.  Commonly,  of 
the  pair  of  hereditary  factors  one  was  dominant,  the  other 
recessive,  the  dominant  one  alone  exerting  an  influence  dur- 
ing development.  Thus  an  individual  exhibiting  the  dom- 
inant member  of  a  contrasted  pair  of  hereditary  characters 
could  be  either  a  homozygous  dominant  (DD)  or  else  a 
heterozygous  dominant  (Dd). 

Mendel  (1865)  himself  hazarded  the  suggestion  that  sex- 
determination  might  prove  to  be  a  phenomenon  of  heredity 
and  segregation.  Experimental  evidence  of  its  validity  was 
furnished  as  early  as  1907  by  Correns,  who  studied  hybrids 
between  monoecious  and  dioecious  species  of  Bryonia.  His 
results  indicated  that  in  the  dioecious  species  sex  was  deter- 
mined by  the  pollen  grain  of  which  there  were  two  kinds 
equal  in  number,  one  being  male-producing  and  the  other 
female-producing  whilst  the  ovules  were  all  of  a  kind. 
Correns  compared  the  combinations  resulting  from  the 
union  of  the  two  forms  of  pollen  grain  with  the  one  form  of 
ovule  with  those  of  the  typical  back-cross  of  a  Mendelian 
experiment  in  which  the  heterozygous  dominant  (Dd) 
mated  to  a  recessive  (dd)  yields  equal  numbers  of  hetero- 
zygous dominants  and  recessives. 


Dd         X 

dd 

D 

d      : 

d     gametes 

)d 

I 

dd 

Doncaster  (1906),  working  with  the  currant  moth  Abraxas 
grossulariata,  produced  evidence  that  strongly  suggested 


6  SEX-DETERMINATION 

that  in  animals  also  sex- determination  was  due  to  segrega- 
tion of  hereditary  factors. 

Bateson  and  Punnett  (1908),  basing  their  interpretation 
on  the  assumption  that  the  character  femaleness  was 
dominant  to  the  contrasted  character  maleness,  and  that  the 
female  in  Abraxas  was  always  heterozygous  in  respect  of 
the  character  femaleness,  devised  a  scheme,  of  considerable 
historical  interest,  to  show  the  relationship  of  the  sex  of  the 
individual  to  its  colour  pattern.  If  the  hereditary  factor  for 
the  grossulariata  colour  pattern  is  symbolized  by  G,  that  for 
lactocolor  by  g,  that  for  the  dominant  femaleness  character 
by  F,  and  that  for  the  recessive  maleness  character  by  f,  then 
the  results  of  Doncaster's  experiments  can  easily  be  accom- 
modated, if  it  is  assumed  that  the  female  is  always  con- 
stitutionally heterozygous  (Ff)  for  the  character  femaleness, 
and  further,  that  the  two  dominant  factors  G  and  F  repel 
each  other  so  that  they  can  never  be  present  together  in  the 
same  gamete. 

The  results  of  the  breeding  experiments  carried  out  by 
Doncaster  were  as  follows: 

1.  lacticolor  $  x  gross.  (^=gross.  sons  and  daughters.  Gross,  was 

dominant  to  lacticolor. 
In  the  F.2  both  gross,  and  lact.  occurred,  there  being  on  the 
average  in  every  4,  3  gross,  to  i  lact.  Among  the  gross,  indi- 
viduals there  were  both  males  and  females  but  the  lacticolors 
were  all  females. 

2.  F.I   gross.    (^    X   lact.  $=gross.  and   lact.  individuals   in   equal 

numbers  and  among  both  of  these  types  males  and  females  in 
equal  numbers. 

3.  lact.  S  from  2  x  F.i  gross.  $=equal  numbers  of  gross,  and  lact. 

individuals  but  all  the  gross,  were  males  and  all  the  lact.  were 
females. 

4.  lact.  o  from  2  x  wild  gross.  $  =  equal  numbers  of  gross,  and  lact. 

individuals  but  all  gross,  were  males  and  all  lact,  were  females. 

Bateson  and  Punnett's  explanation  of  these  results  was 
as  follows : 

1.  lact.  $  X  gross.  <? 

ggFf  GGff  P.I 

gF  gf  :  Gf  gametes 

GgFf  Ggff  F.I 

gross.  ?  gross.  <S 


2. 


GENE! 

:ic 

THEORY 

7 

Gf     gF  (repulsion) 

J 

Gf               gf 

gametes 

GGfT        Ggff 
gross.  (^    gross.  3 

GgFf         ggFf 

gross.  ?     lact.  ? 

F.2 

lact.  $ 
ggFf 

X 

F.I  gross.  (J 
Ggff 

gF             gf 

: 

Gf             gf 

gametes 

GgFf        ggFf 
gross.  ?     lact.  ? 

Ggff         ggff 
gross.  S     lact.  ? 

F.I  gross,  $ 
GgFf 

X 

lact.  c? 
ggff 

Gf     gF  (repulsion) 

: 

gf 

gametes 

Ggff 
gross,  o 

ggFf 
lact.  ? 

wild  gross.  $ 
GgFf 

X 

lact.  (^ 
ggff 

Gf    gF  (repulsion) 

: 

gf 

gametes 

Ggff 
gross.  (^ 

ggFf 
lact.  ? 

Since  the  time  when  this  explanation  of  what  is  now 
known  to  be  an  instance  of  the  inheritance  of  sex-linked 
characters  was  offered,  the  sciences  of  cytology  and  genetics 
have  expanded  vastly  and  out  of  their  development  emerged 
the  current  theory  of  sex-determination.  By  this  theory  all 
the  older  hypotheses  of  sex-determination  have  been  ren- 
dered obsolete  and,  save  for  historical  purposes,  can  be 
disregarded.  The  framework  of  this  theory  consists  of  secure 
knowledge  concerning  the  constant  and  significant  differ- 
ences between  male  and  female  in  respect  of  their  sex- 
chromosome  and  therefore  of  their  genie  constitution  and, 
secondly,  concerning  the  observed  facts  relating  to  the 
phenomenon  of  sex-linkage,  which  enables  the  observer  to- 
trace  the  transmission  of  sex-chromosomes  from  generation 
to  generation.  The  primary  difference  between  the  sexes  is 
now  known  to  be  a  chromosomal  and  a  genie  difference.  In 
the  bisexual  and  dioecious  species  the  sex  of  the  individual, 
as  a  general  rule,  is  now  known  to  be  decided  at  the  moment 
of  fertilization  by  the  interplay  of  the  sex-chromosome 
constitutions  of  the  uniting  gametes.    This  chromosomal,. 


8  SEX-DETERMINATION 

genetic,  theory  was  confirmed  by  the  correlation  that  has 
been  observed  between  the  distribution  in  inheritance  of  the 
sex-chromosomes  and  of  the  sex-Hnked  characters.  Nothing 
that  has  been  encountered  during  the  last  fifty  years  has 
required  any  significant  modification  of  this  theory.  At 
present  it  seems  distinctly  unlikely  that  this  theory  will  be 
at  all  seriously  shaken  in  foreseeable  time,  but  new  dis- 
covery in  other  scientific  fields  may,  in  its  impact  upon 
biological  science,  necessitate  its  review  and  revision. 


CHAPTER    2 

THE  SEX-CHROMOSOMES  AND 
SEX-DETERMINATION 

In  a  very  large  number  and  in  a  wide  variety  of  species  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  male  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
female  by  constant  differences  in  the  chromosome  content 
of  the  nuclei  of  their  component  cells.  This  difference  takes 
several  forms.  In  certain  species  one  sex  possesses  one 
chromosome  less  than  does  the  other,  that  is  to  say  in  one 
sex  the  chromosomes  are  all  paired  whilst  in  the  other  one 
member  of  one  pair  is  lacking.  In  other  species  both  sexes 
possess  the  same  number  of  chromosomes,  existing  in  pairs, 
but  in  one  sex  one  particular  pair  consists  of  chromosomes 
unequal  in  size  and  shape. 

The  single  unpaired  chromosome  found  in  one  sex  and 
the  pair  in  the  other  to  which  it  corresponds,  and  the  pair  of 
chromosomes  in  respect  of  which  the  sexes  differ,  are  known 
as  the  sex-chromosomes  in  order  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  rest  of  the  chromosomes  in  respect  of  which  both  male 
and  female  are  alike.  These  are  known  as  the  autosomes. 
The  single  chromosome  found  in  one  sex  and  the  pair  in  the 
other  to  which  it  corresponds  and,  in  the  case  of  the  species 
in  which  the  chromosome  number  is  the  same  in  both  sexes, 
that  chromosome  which  is  found  in  both  male  and  female, 
are  known  as  X- chromosomes.  The  unequal  mate  of  the  X 
in  one  of  the  sexes  is  known  as  the  Y-chromosome.  Thus  m 
respect  of  sex-chromosome  constitution  the  sexes  can  be 
described  as: 

XO:XX 
or    XY:XX 

The  third  form  which  this  difference  between  the  sexes 

takes  is  that  in  which  the  sex-chromosomes  are  represented 

not  by  single  elements  but  by  groups  which  during  gameto- 

genesis  behave  as  one  compound  chromosome.  Whatever 

2  9 


10  SEX-DETERMINATION 

the  number  of  X-chromosomes  within  the  group,  the  group 
itself  is  single  in  one  sex,  double  in  the  other,  so  that 
essentially  this  difference  is  of  the  XOrXX  type  or,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case,  XY:XX,  for  the  single  compound  X  is 
in  certain  species  associated  with  a  Y-chromosome.  Ray- 
Chaudhuri  and  Manna  (1950)  report  that  the  male  of  the 
gryllid  Euscyrtus  is  X^X^Y.  The  Y  can  itself  be  compound. 
Thus  in  the  dioecious  plant  Rumex  acetosa  Kihara  and  Ono 
(1923)  found  a  Y-chromosome  consisting  of  two  elements 
in  association  with  a  single  X.  According  to  Sharman, 
Mcintosh  and  Barber  (1950)  the  rat  kangaroo  is  XY^Y^  in 
the  male,  XX  in  the  female. 

The  first  account  of  a  sex-chromosome  difference  was  that 
of  Henking  (1891),  who  described  in  the  bug  Pyrrhocoris 
apterus  a  peculiar  chromatin  element  which  was  condensed 
in  the  early  prophase  of  the  primary  spermatocyte.  In  the 
first  spermatocyte  division  the  twelve  elements  found  in  the 
metaphase  plate  all  divided  equally,  but  in  the  second  divi- 
sion one  of  the  twelve  elements  lagged  and  finally  passed 
undivided  into  one  of  the  two  daughter  cells.  As  a  result  two 
kinds  of  spermatids  were  formed,  one  with  eleven  and  one 
with  twelve  of  these  elements.  Henking  did  not  at  this  time 
refer  to  this  odd  chromatin  element  as  a  chromosome  but 
called  it  a  'nucleolus'.  He  did  not  confuse  it  with  a  true 
nucleolus,  however. 

In  1898  Paulmier  recorded  a  similar  phenomenon  in 
Anasa  tristis,  in  the  second  spermatocyte  division  of  which 
eleven  chromosomes  passed  to  one  pole  and  ten  to  the  other. 
In  1 90 1  de  Sinety  described  the  behaviour  of  what  he  called 
a  'chromosome  special'  in  the  male  of  Orphania.  In  the 
same  year  McClung  suggested  that  the  two  classes  of 
spermatozoa  resulting  from  the  meiotic  distribution  of  the 
'accessory'  chromosome  must  be  causally  related  to  the 
production  of  the  two  sexes.  'Upon  the  assumption  that 
there  is  a  qualitative  difference  between  the  various  chromo- 
somes of  the  nucleus  it  would  necessarily  follow  that  there 
are  formed  two  kinds  of  spermatozoa  which,  by  fertilization 
of  the  egg,  would  produce  individuals  qualitatively  different. 
Since  the  number  of  each  of  these  varieties  of  spermatozoa 


SEX-CHROMOSOMES  II 

is  the  same,  it  would  happen  that  there  would  be  an  approxi- 
mately equal  number  of  these  two  kinds  of  offspring.  We 
know  that  the  only  quality  which  separates  the  members  of 
the  species  into  these  two  groups  is  that  of  sex.' 

Thus  it  was  that  the  chromosome  complex  came  to  be 
associated  with  sex-determination.  McClung's  main  hypo- 
thesis was  complicated  by  its  association  with  a  subsidiary 
one  of  selective  fertilization  which  led  him  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  spermatozoon  carrying  the  extra  chromosome  was 
male-determining.  If  this  were  so,  then  the  male  had  to  be 
the  sex  which  had  one  chromosome  more  than  did  the 
female.  Sutton  (1902),  by  reporting  that  the  spermatogonia 
of  Brachystola  possessed  one  chromosome  more  than  did 
the  ovarian  follicle  cells,  provided  support  for  McClung's 

error. 

The  work  of  McClung  aroused  great  interest  and  much 
controversy.  It  evoked  great  activity  in  the  field  of  cytology. 
Gross  (1906)  claimed  to  have  demonstrated  that  in  Syro- 
mastes  and  Pyrrhocoris  the  accessory  chromosome  (the 
single,  unpaired  one)  present  in  the  spermatocytes  arose 
from  two  small  spermatogonial  chromosomes  and,  further, 
that  the  number  of  chromosomes  was  the  same  for  both 
sexes.  It  was  his  opinion  that  all  spermatozoa  lacking  the 
accessory  chromosome  degenerated  so  that  only  one  type  of 
functional  gamete  remained.  However,  Stevens  (1905)  m  the 
beetle  Tenebrio  and  Wilson  (1905)  in  the  bug  Lygaeiis 
furcicus  showed  clearly  that  in  these  forms  at  least  there  was 
one  pair  of  unequal  chromosomes  and  that  this  pair  behaved 
in  the  growth  stages  of  the  spermatocytes  exactly  like  the 
unpaired  accessory  chromosome.  They  found  also  that  the 
members  of  this  unequal  pair  separated  and  passed  to  oppo- 
site poles  in  one  of  the  two  meiotic  divisions.  Stevens  further 
demonstrated  that  the  diploid  number  of  chromosomes  was 
the  same  in  both  sexes  but  that  in  the  female  no  pair  con- 
sisting of  unequal  mates  was  present,  the  male  being  XY, 
the  female  XX.  Then  in  1909  Wilson  corrected  Gross  by 
showing  that  in  the  male  of  Pyrrhocoris  there  was  an  un- 
paired chromosome  in  the  spermatocyte  and  that  this  arose 
from  a  single  spermatogonial  chromosome  of  corresponding 


12  SEX-DETERMINATION 

size  and  not,  as  Gross  thought,  from  a  pair  of  smaller 
spermatogonia!  chromosomes.  In  the  case  of  Syromastes 
Wilson  showed  that  Gross  was  correct  in  his  observation 
that  these  two  chromosomes  represented  the  components 
of  a  compound  sex-chromosome  which  was  unpaired.  In  the 
female  each  of  the  two  components  was  represented  twice  so 
that  the  diploid  number  was  greater  by  two  chromosomes 
than  was  that  of  the  male. 

It  thus  appeared  that  the  X-chromosome  was  the  sex- 
determining  agent,  one  X  yielding  a  male,  two  XX's  a 
female,  the  Y-chromosome  itself  exerting  no  discernible 
influence.  This  heterogamety  on  the  part  of  the  male  and 
this  homogamety  on  the  part  of  the  female  were  responsible 
for  the  production  of  a  sex-ratio  of  equality  in  the  next 
generation. 

Male  Female 


X- 

XX 

X        -  : 
XX 

X 
X- 

gametes  (two  forms  of  spermatozoa, 

one  form  of  ova) 
fertilization 

Females               Males 
in  equal  numbers 

The  XO=male;  XX=female  type  of  sex-determining 
mechanism  is  commonly  known  as  the  'Protenor  type'.  In 
this  form  the  male  is  the  heterogametic  sex.  Half  of  the 
spermatozoa  produced  by  the  male  contain  one  X-chromo- 
some and  are  female-producing,  while  the  other  half  lack 
such  a  chromosome  and  are  male-producing.  The  diploid 
chromosome  number  in  the  female  is  a  multiple  of  two;  the 
chromosome  number  in  the  male  is  one  less.  In  Protenor 
belfragi  the  diploid  number  in  the  female  is  14,  whilst  in  the 
male  it  is  13.  Since  in  this  species  the  X-chromosome  is  at 
least  twice  the  size  of  any  of  the  autosomes  it  is  readily 
recognized.  The  single  X-chromosome  of  the  male  is  always 
derived  by  way  of  the  egg  from  the  mother,  passes  from  the 
male  to  the  female  in  the  production  of  females  and  from 
the  female  to  the  male  in  the  production  of  males. 

The  fact  that  in  maturation  each  ovum  received  a  single 


SEX-CHROMOSOMES  I3 

X-chromosome  was  first  established  through  the  work  of 
Morrill  (1910)  on  the  maturation  of  the  egg  in  various 
hemiptera,  of  Boveri  (1909)  and  Gulick  (191 1)  on  the 
nematode  Heterakis  and  of  Mulsow  (1912)  on  the  nematode 
Ancyracanthus  cystidicola.  In  the  last  of  these  forms  the 
chromosomes  remain  separate  in  the  spermatozoon  so  that 
they  can  be  counted.  The  primordial  egg  cells  in  the  ovary 
contain  12  chromosomes.  During  synapsis  6  double  ele- 
ments are  to  be  seen.  The  first  maturation  division  removes 
6  complete  chromosomes  from  the  egg  into  the  polar 
body;  the  second  maturation  division  splits  each  remain- 
ing chromosome  longitudinally  and  separates  the  resulting 
halves.  The  mature  tgg  therefore  comes  to  possess  6  chromo- 
somes, one  of  these  being  the  X. 

In  the  case  of  the  male  gamete  the  primordial  germ  cells 
of  the  testis  include  only  1 1  chromosomes,  one  of  which  is 
the  unpaired  X.  When  these  chromosomes  conjugate  in  the 
synapsis  stage  the  X-chromosome  has  no  partner  and  it 
remains  apart  from  the  others  in  the  resting  nucleus.  In  the 
first  maturation  division  there  are  5  bivalent  chromosomes 
and  the  univalent  X.  When  the  chromosomes  are  distri- 
buted to  the  daughter  cells  the  X  passes  undivided  to  one 
of  these.  This  heterotypic  division  yields  two  primary 
spermatocytes,  one  with  5  chromosomes,  the  other  6.  The 
homotypic  division  cleaves  each  of  these  primary  spermato- 
cytes into  two  by  ordinary  mitosis  with  the  result  that  four 
spermatids  are  formed,  two  of  them  with  5  and  two  with 
6  chromosomes.  During  their  maturation  into  spermatozoa 
the  chromosomes  remain  visible  and  it  is  possible  to  observe 
that  the  eggs  are  fertilized  by  5  chromosomes  and  6  chromo- 
somes bearing  spermatozoa  respectively. 

Later  cytological  work  showed  that  the  Protenor  type  is  to 
be  found  in  most  orthopterans,  many  bugs,  beetles,  spiders, 
myriapods  and  nematodes.  Hughes- Schrader  (1947),  for 
example,  lists  17  species  of  the  bisexual  Phasmids  which  are 
XO  in  the  male. 

The  Lygaeus  type  is  commonly  regarded  as  a  more 
primitive  form  from  which  the  Protenor  type  was  derived 
through  the  progressive  loss  of  the  Y-chromosome.  It  is 


14  SEX-DETERMINATION 

characterized  by  the  presence  of  a  synaptic  mate  for  the  X. 
The  diploid  number  of  chromosomes  is  the  same  in  both 
sexes. 

Male  Female 

XY  X  XX 

X         Y        :  X       gametes 

XX  :  XY      fertilization 

Females  Males 

in  equal  numbers 

All  the  mature  ova  of  the  female  receive  a  single  X.  The 

Y  is  strictly  confined  to  the  male  line.  The  son  receives  his 

Y  from  his  father  and  his  X  from  his  mother.  The  daughter 
receives  one  X  from  each  of  her  parents. 

The  Y  commonly,  though  by  no  means  invariably,  is 
smaller  than  the  X.  In  the  majority  of  instances  the  X  and 
the  Y  are  disjoined  in  the  first  or  heterotypic  division,  each 
dividing  equationally  in  the  homotypic  division.  During  the 
growth  period  of  the  spermatocytes  both  the  X  and  the  Y 
typically  undergo  heteropycnosis  and  in  most  instances  they 
unite  to  form  a  single  bivalent.  This  then  separates  into  its 
two  components  so  that  half  the  sperm  receive  an  X,  the 
other  half  a  Y. 

The  XY  pair  differs  from  the  autosomes  in  that  they 
usually  do  not  take  part  in  the  synaptotene  stages  or  in  the 
formation  of  tetrads.  There  is  a  tendency  for  the  X  and  the 

Y  to  come  together  during  prophase.  In  many  instances  their 
contact  is  but  slight  so  that  the  two  chromosomes  can  still 
be  distinguished.  In  other  cases  the  union  which  occurs 
during  the  growth  stages  of  the  meiotic  period  is  a  much 
more  intimate  one  and  the  two  chromosomes  are  contained 
within  a  single  chromosome  nucleolus.  The  joined  X  and  Y 
may  enter  into  the  primary  spermatocyte  spindle  in  the  form 
of  a  tetrad.  But  the  inequality  of  the  X  and  Y  can  usually 
be  recognized  in  these  structures  and  therefore  the  presence 
of  a  tetrad  does  not  necessarily  indicate  any  actual  synapsis. 

The  Lygaeus  type  of  sex-chromosome  sex-determining 
mechanism  is  to  be  encountered  in  mammals  and  dioecious 
plants,  is  common  in  diptera  and  not  unusual  in  bugs  and 
beetles.  The  size  difference  between  the  X  and  the  Y  varies 


SEX-CHROMOSOMES  15 

greatly  from  species  to  species;  the  Y  may  be  exceedingly 
small  or  it  can  be  equal  in  size  to  the  X.  Among  the  bugs 
there  are  species  which  can  be  graded  according  to  the 
relative  size  of  the  Y,  from  those  in  which  the  Y  is  as  large 
as  the  X  to  those  in  which  the  Y  is  absent. 

Hetero-  or  di-gamety  is  not  a  property  of  the  male,  how- 
ever. In  birds  and  lepidoptera  it  is  the  female  that  is  hetero- 
gametic  and  the  male  that  is  homogametic. 

The  male  of  the  domestic  fowl  has  an  even  number  of 
matched  chromosomes,  including  seven  pairs  of  large  ones 
and  fifteen  pairs  of  small  ones.  Sokolow,  Tiniakow  and 
Trofimov  (1936)  concluded  that  the  sex-chromosome  was 
a  V-shaped  chromosome  with  arms  of  equal  length  which 
was  present  in  duplicate  in  the  male  and  in  the  simplex  state 
in  the  female.  They  found  it  impossible  to  decide  whether 
or  not  one  or  other  of  the  many  small  chromosomes  was  the 
Y  in  the  female.  Pheasants,  peafowl  and  turkeys  were  found 
to  have  the  same  kind  of  sex-chromosome  constitution.  In 
the  guinea-fowl  and  woodcock  there  were  two  such  chromo- 
somes in  the  female,  four  in  the  male. 

Among  the  lepidoptera  Seller  (1920)  found  in  the  moth 
Talaeporia  tuhidosa  60  matched  chromosomes  in  the  male 
and  59  in  the  female  which  synapsed  into  29  pairs  and  an 
unpaired  univalent. 

The  difference  between  male  and  female  heterogamety  in 
no  way  affects  the  functioning  of  the  mechanism. 


Male 

Female 

XX 

X          XO  or  XY 

X 

:           X 

orX 

0    gametes 
Y 

XX 

:          XO 
orXY 

fertilization 

Males  Females 


The  compound  sex-chromosome  mechanism  has  been 
encountered  in  Tenodera,  Paratenodera,  Mantis,  Stag- 
momantis  and  in  Hierodula,  the  males  being  X^XaY  and  the 
females  X1X1X2X2  (Oguma,  1921;  King,  1931;  Asana,  1934). 
More  recent  work  (White,  1938,  1941;  Hughes- Schrader, 


l6  SEX-DETERMINATION 

I943»  1948,  1950;  Matthey,  1949;  Oguma,  1946)  has  shown 
that  not  all  the  Praying  Mantis  have  this  type  of  sex- 
chromosome  mechanism,  the  males  of  many  genera  being 
XO.  It  has  been  suggested  (White,  1941;  Hughes- Schrader, 
1950)  that  the  compound  type  arose  from  the  more  primi- 
tive XO  type  through  a  structural  rearrangement  or  series 
of  rearrangements.  Possibly  a  single  mutual  translocation 
between  a  metacentric  X  and  a  metacentric  autosome  con- 
verted the  original  XO  mechanism  into  the  X^XgY  mechan- 
ism without  any  intermediate  steps.  If  this  is  so,  then  the  Y 
is  the  homologue  of  the  autosome  involved  in  the  trans- 
location. In  the  grasshopper  Paratylotropidia  hrunneri  King 
and  Beams  (1938)  found  the  sex-chromosome  mechanism 
likewise  to  be  XiX2Y=male,  XiXiX2X2= female. 

The  Sex-Ratio.  The  homo-  heterogametic  mechanism 
described  above  should  yield  a  sex-ratio  among  the  newly 
conceived,  a  primary  sex-ratio,  of  equality.  This  numerical 
relationship  of  males  and  females  is  expressed  either  as  so 
many  males  per  100  or  per  1,000  females  within  the  group 
or  else  as  the  percentage  of  males  among  all  the  newly 
conceived.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  primary  sex- 
ratio  among  such  forms  as  fishes,  birds  and  mammals  by 
direct  observation.  It  is  necessary  to  examine  a  sufficient 
number  of  foetuses  and  embryos  as  near  to  the  point  in 
their  development  at  which  the  differences  that  distinguish 
the  sexes  can  be  recognized.  When  this  is  done  it  is  found 
that  the  sex-ratio  among  them  is  not  one  of  equality  though 
not  far  removed  therefrom.  This  'foetal'  sex-ratio  ranges 
from  44-5  per  cent,  males  in  some  of  these  studies  to  56-8  in 
others.  {Handbook  of  Biological  Data.) 

These  observations  do  not  destroy  the  validity  of  the 
argument  concerning  the  homo-  heterogametic  mechanism. 
They  are  to  be  explained  in  different  instances  by  one  or 
other  of  the  following  phenomena: 

1.  The  two  forms  of  gametes  elaborated  by  the  hetero- 
gametic sex  are  not  always  produced  in  equal  numbers. 

2.  These  two  forms  are  not  invariably  equally  efficient 
fertilization. 


SEX-CHROMOSOMES  17 

The  two  forms  of  zygote  resulting  from  fertilization 
are  not  always  equally  viable  so  that  almost  from  the 
beginning  a  sexually  selective  mortality  operates  to 
produce  a  sex-ratio  of  inequality  among  the  products 
of  conception  and  therefore  among  the  newly-born 
(the  secondary  sex-ratio). 


CHAPTER    3 

SEX-LINKAGE.  NON-DISJUNCTION 
GYNANDROMORPHISM 

Sex-Linkage.  When  describing  the  transmission  of  a  char- 
acter from  parent  to  offspring  it  is  not  necessary  in  the  great 
majority  of  instances  to  make  any  reference  to  the  sex  of  the 
parent  or  of  the  offspring;  it  is  enough  to  state  that,  for 
example,  the  dominant  character  exhibited  by  one  of  the 
parents  is  displayed  by  all  or  by  50  per  cent,  of  the  offspring, 
or  that  the  recessive  character  exhibited  by  one  of  the 
grandparents  reappears  in  approximately  25  per  cent,  of  the 
grandchildren.  In  certain  instances,  however,  like  that  of  the 
grossulariata  and  lacticolor  characters  of  Abraxas,  a  correct 
description  involves  reference  not  only  to  the  distribution 
of  these  characters  among  the  individuals  of  the  different 
generations  but  also  to  the  sex  of  the  individuals  that  display 
these  characters. 

Although  the  exact  chromosome  constitution  of  Abraxas 
is  unknown,  the  results  obtained  by  Doncaster  can  be  most 
easily  explained  as  follows.  Assume  that  Abraxas  has  the 
Lygaeus  type  of  sex-chromosome  constitution,  that  the 
female  is  the  heterogametic  sex,  that  the  genes  for  the  char- 
acters grossulariata  and  lacticolor  are  resident  in  the 
X-chromosome  (in  any  one  X  there  being  either  that  for 
grossulariata  or  else  that  for  lacticolor),  and  that  there  are 
no  genes  in  the  Y  that  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  action  of 
these  X-borne  genes. 


I.  lact.  ? 

(gX)Y 

(gX)  Y 

(GX)(gX) 

heterozygous 

gross,  c? 

(GX)  (gX) 


gross.  S 

(GX)(GX) 

(GX) 

(GX)Y 

gross.  $ 
(GX)  Y 


P.I 

gametes 
F.I 


gametes 


18 


SEX-LINKAGE 


19 


(GX)Y 
gross.  $ 


(gX)Y   F.2 
lact.  ? 


2. 


heterozygous 

gross.  S 

(GX)(gX) 

(GX)         (gX) 

(GX)Y     (gX)Y 

gross.  ^     lact.  ? 

lact.  c? 
(gX)(gX) 

(gX) 
(gX)Y 
lact.  ? 


gametes 


gametes 


(GX)(GX)       (GX)(gX) 

homozygous   heterozygous 

gross,  o  gross,  o 

lact.  ?  : 

(gX)Y 

(gX)  Y 

(GX)(gX)         (gX)(gX) 

homozygous   heterozygous 

gross,  o  gross,  o 

3.  F.I  gross.  ?  " 

(GX)Y 

(GX)  Y 

(GX)(gX) 
heterozygous 
gross,  o 

4.  As  3  above. 

In  the  domestic  fowl  the  phenomenon  of  sex-linkage — 
this  association  in  inheritance  of  a  discernible  character  and 
of  the  character  of  sex  itself — has  in  recent  years  formed  the 
basis  of  a  large  industry.  Day-old  chicks,  every  one  of  them 
guaranteed  to  be  a  female,  are  sold  by  the  thousand  every 
year.  The  seller  does  not  examine  their  genitalia  in  order  to 
determine  whether  the  chick  is  a  male  or  a  female;  its  sex 
is  signalled  by  its  plumage  coloration.  As  an  example  the 
plumage  characters  barred  and  non-barred  may  be  cited. 
A  non-barred  (black)  cock  mated  with  barred  hens  produces 
barred  male  and  non-barred  female  offspring.  Sons  'take 
after'  their  mother,  daughters  'after'  their  father,  a 
phenomenon  known  as  criss-cross  inheritance. 

The  actual  sex-chromosome  constitution  of  the  domestic 
fowl  is  not  yet  finally  established,  the  number  of  chromo- 
somes is  very  large  and  many  of  them  are  very  small. 
Assume  that  it  is  of  the  Lygaeus  type  with  female  hetero- 
gamety.  Assume  further  that  the  genes  for  the  characters 
barred  and  non-barred  are  X-borne  and  that  barred  is 
dominant.  A  non-barred  cock  must  then  have  the  constitu- 
tion (bx)(bx)  and  the  barred  hen  (BX)Y. 


20 


SEX-DETERMINATION 


Non-barred  ^ 

(bx)(bx) 

(bx) 

(BX)(bx) 

heterozygous 
barred  (J 


Barred  ? 

(BX)Y 

(BX)     Y 

(bx)Y 

non-barred 

$ 


gametes 


The  day-old  chick  that  will  develop  into  a  barred- 
plumaged  bird  has  a  white  spot  on  the  top  of  the  head* 
those  who  will  not  be  barred  when  adult  lack  this  spot.  The 
barred  birds  are  male  and  can  be  separated  from  the  females 
among  day-old  chicks. 

The  sons  of  this  mating  are  barred  because  to  be  males 
they  must  possess  two  X-chromosomes,  and  because  one  of 
these  must  come  from  their  barred  mother  who  has  only 
one  to  offer,  one  carrying  the  dominant  barred  gene.  The 
daughters  of  this  mating  are  non-barred  because  to  be 
femal^  they  must  receive  their  Y  from  their  mother  and 
their  X  from  their  father  who  has  only  one  kind  of  X  to 
offer,  an  X  carrying  the  recessive  gene  for  the  non-barred 
character. 

If  the  reciprocal  cross  is  made  and  a  barred  cock  is  mated 
with  non-barred  hens  all  the  F.i,  males  and  females  alike, 
are  barred.  In  the  F.2  there  appear  on  the  average  in  every  4 
3  barred  and  i  non-barred.  Among  the  barred  there  are  two 
males  and  one  female  in  every  three  and  all  the  non-barred 
are  females. 


Barred  (^ 
(BX)(BX) 

(BX) 

(BX)(bX) 

heterozygous 

Barred  (^ 

(BX)  (bX) 

(BX)(BX)  (BX)(bX) 

homozygous  heterozygous 

Barred  (^  Barred  c? 


Non-barred  $ 
(bX)Y 
(bX)  Y 

(BX)Y 
Barred  ? 


P.I 

gametes 
F.I 


(BX)  Y  gametes 

(BX)Y         (bX)Y        F.2 
Barred  ?   non-barred  ? 


The  recessive  character  of  the  grandmother  is  exhibited 
by  none  of  her  sons  or  daughters  and  only  by  50  per  cent. 


SEX-LINKAGE  21 

of  her  granddaughters.  These  facts  can  be  explained  most 
readily  on  the  assumptions  that  the  genes  for  the  characters 
barred  and  non-barred  are  being  distributed  by  a  mechan- 
ism that  at  the  same  time  is  distributing  the  elements  of  a 
sex-determining  mechanism  and,  secondly,  that  the  male  of 
the  domestic  fowl  has  in  his  constitution  the  sex-determin- 
ing element  in  duplicate  whilst  the  female  possesses  it  in  the 
single  state  and  is  heterogametic.  Homo-  and  heterogamety 
require  that  there  shall  be  a  qualitative  or  quantitative 
difference  of  this  kind  between  male  and  female. 

In  man  there  is  a  form  of  the  disease  haemophilia  that 
behaves  in  inheritance  in  exactly  the  same  way  and  which 
goes  far  to  prove  that  the  male  is  heterogametic  and  that 
haemophilia  is  a  sex-linked  recessive  character,  its  gene 
being  X-borne.  Evans  and  Swezy  (1929)  offered  cytological 
proof  that  man  has  the  Lygaeus  type  of  sex-chromosome 
constitution,  the  male  being  XY. 

It  will  be  noted  that  according  to  this  explanation  (on 
p.  22)  there  can  be  two  kinds  of  males,  haemophiliacs  and 
normals,  and  three  kinds  of  females,  normals,  carriers  and 
haemophiliacs.  This  is  so  because  the  male  has  but  one  X- 
chromosome  and  the  female  two.  On  any  one  X  there  can 
be  either  the  gene  for  normality  or  else  the  gene  for  haemo- 
philia. In  the  case  of  the  female  the  haemophilia  gene  can 
be  present  in  neither,  in  one  or  in  both  of  the  X's.  A  male 
cannot  be  a  carrier.  It  is  because  the  carrier  female  is  so 
difficult  to  identify  that  she  constitutes  a  danger  to  her  off- 
spring by  a  normal  male.  A  female  can  be  haemophilic  only 
when  her  father  is  a  haemophiliac  and  her  mother  either 
a  carrier  or  else  a  haemophiliac.  Haemophilia  is  seldom 
encountered  in  the  human  female  for  the  reason,  it  would 
appear,  that  female  haemophiliacs  die  in  utero. 

Non-Disjunction.  That  the  mechanism  that  is  concerned 
with  the  distribution  of  these  sex-linked  characters  is  at  the 
same  time  the  mechanism  which  in  its  functioning  is  in- 
volved in  the  determination  of  the  sex  of  the  individual  was 
proved  beyond  all  doubt  by  the  work  of  Bridges  (19 16)  on 
non-disjunction  in  Drosophila  melanogaster. 


22 


SEX- DETERMINATION 


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NON-DISJUNCTION  23 

The  science  of  genetics  owes  more  to  the  fortuitous  selec- 
tion by  T.  H.  Morgan  and  his  colleagues  at  Columbia 
University  in  the  early  days  of  this  century  of  Drosophila 
melanogaster  as  an  experimental  material  than  to  any  other 
event  that  has  occurred  during  its  development.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  this  small  fly  possessed  every  possible  attribute 
that  the  geneticist  could  wish  to  find.  It  thrives  under 
laboratory  conditions,  it  multiplies  rapidly  and  it  con- 
tinually threw  up  mutant  forms  at  a  time  when  the  geneticist 
was  seeking  new  phenotypes  to  explore.  When  the  chromo- 
some complex  came  to  be  recognized  as  the  mechanism 
involved  in  the  transmission  of  the  hereditary  char- 
acters, it  was  found  that  in  respect  of  chromosome 
number  Drosophila  possessed  but  four  pairs,  easily  dis- 
tinguished one  from  the  other  and  that  the  X  and  Y  of  the 
male  differed  markedly,  so  that  cytologically  the  fly  was  as 
excellent  a  material  as  it  had  proved  to  be  genetically.  Then 
when  cytological  inquiry  came  to  overtop  the  purely 
genetical  in  importance  it  was  found  that  in  the  fly's  salivary 
glands  the  chromosomes  existed  in  a  giant  form.  To  a  very 
large  extent  the  choice  of  Drosophila  at  that  time  deter- 
mined the  rate  and  the  direction  of  the  development  of 
genetics  thereafter;  it  also  affected  profoundly  the  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  range  of  the  biological  sciences  to  give  to 
the  Theory  of  the  Gene  an  importance  not  less  than  that  of 
Evolution  Theory  itself. 

An  early  mutation  in  Drosophila  was  the  recessive  sex- 
linked  white-eye  character.  It  was  quickly  explained  as 
indicated  below: 

Wild  type  X  Mutant 

red  eyed  o  white  eyed  ? 

(WX)Y  (wX)(wX)   P.I 

(WX)  Y  :  (wX)        gametes 

(WX)(wX)  (wX)Y      F.I 

red-eyed  white-eyed 

daughters  sons 

But  to  this  rule  there  were  exceptions,  a  number  of 
white-eyed  daughters  and  of  red-eyed  sons  making  their 


24 


SEX-DETERMINATION 


appearance.  Bridges  showed  that  these  exceptional  indi- 
viduals could  be  explained  if  it  were  assumed  that  the 
white-eyed  mother  was  not  (wX)(wX)  but  (wX)(wX)Y 
in  respect  of  sex-chromosome  constitution,  if  a  definite 
abnormality  in  the  distribution  of  the  sex-chromosomes  had 
occurred  during  the  maturation  of  the  egg  from  which  she 
sprang. 

Normally,  of  the  two  X-chromosomes  in  the  unripe  egg^ 
one  during  the  reduction  division  passes  into  the  polar  body. 
If  exceptionally  these  X's  did  not  so  disjoin,  both  remaining 
in  the  egg,  or  if  both  passed  into  the  polar  body,  then  two 
further  kinds  of  mature  ova  would  result,  one  with  two  X's, 
each  in  this  case  carrying  the  gene  for  white-eye  (wX),  and 
the  other  without  any  X.  The  spermatozoa  of  the  red-eyed 
male  are  of  two  kinds,  one  with  an  X  carrying  the  dominant 
red-eye  gene,  the  other  with  a  Y.  Fertilization  of  these  two 
exceptional  kinds  of  egg  would  then  yield  four  combina- 
tions, so: 


Eggs  abnormal  in  respect  of 
sex-chromosome  constitution 


Spermatozoa 


(wX)(wX)                                       X 
(-)  no  X  chromosome 

(WX) 
Y 

Phenotype 

Sex-chromosome 
constitution 

I. 

(WX)(wX)(wX) 

red-eyed  female 

triplo-X 

2. 

(wX)(wX)Y 

white-eyed  female 

XXY 

3- 

(WX)(-) 

red-eyed  male 

XO 

4- 

(-)Y 

? 

-Y 

I. 
z. 

Exhibits  poor  viability. 

An  exceptional  white-eyed  female.  She  exhibits  this  charact 

because  she  received  both  of  her  X's  from  her  mother. 

An  exceptional  red-eyed  male.  He  received  his  X  from  his  father 

and  not  from  his  mother. 

Does  not  appear. 


The  mating  of  a  normal  red-eyed  male  to  a  non-disjunc- 
tional  white-eyed  female  (2  above)  will  yield  the  following 
results: 


NON-DISJUNCTION 


25 


normal  red-eyed  0 

X        non-disjunctional  XXY 

white-eyed  $ 

(WX)Y 

(wX)(wX)Y 

(WX)         Y 

:                (wX) 

Four  kinds  of  gametes, 

(wX)Y 

the  numerical  propor- 
tions of  these  being  de- 

(vvX)(wX) 

termined    by    the    fre- 

Y 

quency  of  the  different 
groupings  of  the  triad 
components  and  by  the 
variation  of  their  posi- 
tions on  the  spindle. 

Fertilization 

Phenot>'pe 

Sex-chromosome 
constitution 

I. 

(WX)(wX) 

red-eyed  ? 

normal  XX 

2. 

(WX)(wX)Y 

red-eyed  ? 

XXY 

3- 

(WX)(wX)(wX) 

red-eyed  ?  ? 

triplo-X 

4- 

(WX)Y 

red-eyed  ^ 

normal  XY 

5- 

(wX)Y 

white-eyed  <^ 

normal  XY 

6. 

(wX)YY 

white-eyed  (^ 

XYY 

7. 

(wX)(wX)Y 

white-eyed  $ 

XXY 

8. 

YY 

—            i 

?               YY 

Classes  3,  the  trisomic  red-eyed  female,  and  8,  the  double 
Y  lacking  an  X,  do  not  appear.  4,  the  exceptional  red-eyed 
male,  has  its  origin  in  an  X  from  the  father  and  a  Y  from  the 
mother.  7,  the  exceptional  white-eyed  female,  derives  both 
X's  from  the  mother.  She  is  a  female  because  she  is  XX. 

The  exceptional  white-eyed  females  (7)  when  mated  with 
normal  red-eyed  males  always  yield  the  same  kind  of  ex- 
ceptional offspring;  the  exceptional  red-eyed  males  (4) 
always  behave  as  normal  red-eyed  males,  they  have  a  per- 
fectly normal  sex-chromosome  constitution  even  though  the 
X  and  the  Y  are  derived  from  the  wrong  parents.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  white-eyed  males  (5  and  6),  one  perfectly 
normal,  the  other  cytologically  exceptional  and  therefore 
producing  exceptional  gametes  in  its  turn.  6  should  be  able 
to  yield  an  XXY  female  by  fertilizing  an  X-bearing  egg.  It 
does.  The  XXY  female  has  been  identified  both  genetically 
and  cytologically.  Sex-determination  would  therefore  seem 
to  be  an  affair  of  the  sex-chromosome  combination,  no 


26 


SEX-DETERMINATION 


matter  how  this  may  be  estabhshed.  Since  in  these  non- 
disjunctional  types  the  autosomes  are  the  same  in  both 
sexes,  maleness  and  femaleness  would  seem  to  be  characters 
that  are  based  upon  the  number  of  X-chromosomes  present 
in  the  zygote.  It  would  appear  from  this  work  of  Bridges 
that  the  X-chromosome  itself  is  neither  male-determining 
nor  female-determining  but  is  of  such  a  kind  that  when  one 
is  present  in  association  with  a  diploid  set  of  autosomes 
development  is  swung  in  the  direction  of  maleness,  whereas 
when  two  are  present  it  is  swung  in  the  direction  of  female- 
ness. The  egg  possesses  the  capacity  to  develop  in  either 
direction,  the  direction  taken  being  determined  by  the  rela- 
tive amount  of  X-chromosome-borne  chromatin. 

Then  in  1922  came  the  work  of  L.  V.  Morgan  on  attached 
X-chromosomes  which  finally  showed  that  two  X's  in  the 
zygote,  irrespective  of  their  origin,  resulted  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  female.  The  culture  of  Drosophila  used  by  L.  V. 
Morgan  exhibited  a  sex-linked  recessive  character  yellow 
body-color.  Homozygous  yellow  females  mated  to  wild- 
type  (grey  body-colored)  males  gave  only  yellow  daughters 
and  grey  sons,  a  constant  and  complete  reversal  of  the  ex- 
pected criss-cross  mode  of  inheritance.  Cytological  examina- 
tion showed  that  in  these  females  instead  of  the  usual  two 
X's  there  was  a  single  V-shaped  chromosome  and,  in 
addition,  usually  a  supernumerary  Y.  Others  possessed  a 
single  X  in  addition  to  this  V.  The  V  was  shown  to  be  two 
attached  X's  which  did  not  disjoin  during  meiosis. 


An  attached  X 

Normal 

Yellow  $ 

Greyed 

(gX)-(gX)Y 

X         (GX)Y 

(gX)-(gX) 
Y 

(^^)  jgametes 

Phenotype              Sex-chromosome 

constitution 

(i)  (gX)-(gX)(GX) 

grey  female                       triplo-X 

(2)  (gX)-(gX)Y 

yellow  female                      XXY 

(3)  (GX)Y 

grey  male                             XY 

(4)  YY 

?                                  YY 

G=the  gene  for  grey  body-colour;  g=yellow;  ^=attached. 
(i)  rarely  survives.     (4)  is  non- viable  and  does  not  appear. 


GYNANDROMORPHISM  27 

Thus  the  addition  of  a  Y  to  XX  has  no  discernible  effect 
upon  the  sex-differentiation  of  the  individual.  The  X-bear- 
ing  sperm  which  usually  takes  part  in  the  creation  of  a 
female  here  contributes  to  the  origin  of  a  male  if  it  fertilizes 
a  Y-bearing  egg.  Sex  is  thus  determined  by  the  sex- 
chromosome  distributing  mechanism  which  operates  at  the 
time  of  karyogamy. 

It  is  now  established  that  the  Y-chromosome  is  not  com- 
pletely inert.  Part  of  it  is  inert  but  there  is  a  portion  which 
carries  genes  and  which  is  homologous  gene  by  gene  with 
the  X-chromosome.  Both  Bridges  and  Stern  (1927)  have 
identified  'fertility'  genes  in  the  Y  and  Sturtevant  showed 
that  the  reason  why  the  males  of  a  'bobbed'  stock  do  not 
exhibit  this  recessive  sex-linked  character  is  that  there  is  a 
dominant  normal  gene  in  the  Y. 

Gynandromorphism.  The  essential  feature  of  the  con- 
dition of  gynandromorphism  is  the  presence  in  one  and  the 
same  individual  of  a  species  in  which  sex-dimorphism  is  the 
rule,  of  sharply  defined  regions  of  the  body  some  of  which 
show  the  characters  of  the  male,  others  of  which  display  the 
characters  typical  of  the  female.  A  gynandromorph  is  a  sex- 
mosaic  in  space.  A  'lateral'  gynandromorph  has  one  half  of 
the  body,  the  left  or  the  right,  including  the  reproductive 
organs,  completely  male  in  its  characterization  while  the 
other  half  displays  the  typical  female  characterization;  in  an 
anterior-posterior  gynandromorph  the  anterior  half  of  the 
body  has  the  characterization  of  one  of  the  sexes,  the 
posterior  half  those  of  the  opposite  sex.  The  sex-mosaic  can 
be  much  less  regular  than  this,  however,  most  of  the 
regions  of  the  body  displaying  the  characters  of  one 
sex  and  only  a  relatively  small  area  exhibiting  those  of  the 
other. 

Time  came  when  this  phenomenon  of  gynandromorphism 
could  with  great  advantage  be  investigated  in  Drosophila 
melanogaster .  The  genetic  and  cytological  analysis  of  this 
fly  came  to  be  very  advanced.  The  spacial  relationships  in 
the  different  chromosomes,  both  autosomes  and  sex-chro- 
mosomes,  of  several   hundreds   of  genes    were  quickly 


28  SEX-DETERMINATION 

determined  by  planned  experimentation.  Gynandromorph- 
ism  is  not  uncommonly  encountered  in  this  form. 

Morgan  and  Bridges  (1919)  showed  that  in  these  Droso- 
phila  melanogaster  gynandromorphs  whereas  the  trans- 
mission of  the  autosomal  characters  was  not  affected,  both 
male  and  female  parts  displaying  them  equally,  that  of  the 
characters  the  genes  for  which  were  X-chromosome-borne 
was  disturbed.  It  was  possible  therefore  to  conclude  that  in 
such  a  gynandromorph  the  male  and  female  regions  differed 
from  each  other  in  respect  of  the  X-chromosome  content  of 
the  nuclei  of  their  component  cells. 

A  lateral  gynandromorph  with  a  white-eyed  side  display- 
ing the  male  characterization  and  a  red-eyed  side  exhibiting 
the  female  characterization  can  be  explained  as  follows: 

White  eyed  ^  x  Red  eyed  $  Parents 

(wX)Y  (WX)(WX) 

(WX)(wX)  the  gynandromorph  in  its 

beginning 

The  gynandromorph  started  its  life  as  an  XX  individual, 
being  the  result  of  the  fertilization  of  an  t^g  with  an 
X-chromosome  carrying  the  dominant  gene  for  red-eye  by 
a  spermatazoon  with  an  X-chromosome  carrying  the  reces- 
sive gene  for  the  white-eye  character.  At  the  first  division  of 
this  fertilized  tgg  when  each  of  these  X's  splits  longi- 
tudinally and  when  normally  each  of  the  nuclei  of  the  two 
resulting  daughter  cells  receives  two  daughter  X's,  one 
paternal  and  one  maternal  in  origin,  one  of  these  daughter 
X's — the  maternal  one  carrying  the  dominant  red-eye  gene 
— became  excluded  from  one  of  the  daughter  nuclei.  The 
sex-chromosome  constitution  of  the  two  daughter  nuclei 
therefore  came  to  be: 

(wX)     :     (WX)(wX) 

Then  if  from  each  of  these  cells  there  arose  the  tissues  of  one 
lateral  half  of  the  body  and  if  the  single  X  constitution 
equals  maleness  and  the  XX  constitution  leads  to  the 
development  of  femaleness,  a  *half  sider'  should  result,  one 
side  being  male  and  white-eyed,  the  other  female  and  red- 
eyed. 


GYNANDROMORPHISM  29 

If  this  explanation  is  valid,  then  gynandromorphism  in 
Drosophila  melanogaster  is  the  result  of  the  elimination  of  an 
X-chromosome  from  the  nucleus  of  one  of  the  cells  pro- 
duced by  the  first  cleavage  division  of  a  female  zygote  (XX). 
XO  tissue  is  male  tissue.  If  such  elimination  occurs  at  the 
second  cleavage  division  a  quarter  of  the  body  becomes  XO 
in  constitution  and  male  in  characterization.  The  later  in 
embryonic  development  this  elimination  occurs  the  less  will 
be  the  amount  of  male  tissue  in  such  an  individual.  When 
in  an  elimination  gynandromorph  the  abdomen  is  affected 
and  is  male-type,  the  individual  behaves  as  a  male  but  is 
invariably  sterile. 

Morgan  and  Bridges  (19 19)  found  in  a  series  of  about  a 
hundred  that  the  maternal  X  was  eliminated  about  as 
frequently  as  was  the  paternal. 

Doncaster  (1914)  noted  that  in  the  moth  Abraxas  there 
was  occasionally  to  be  encountered  an  egg  with  two  separate 
maturation  spindles  and  two  female  pronuclei  each  about  to 
be  fertilized  by  a  separate  sperm.  If  each  of  these  pronuclei 
was  fertilized  by  a  separate  spermatozoon,  and  if  one  of  these 
was  X-chromosome-bearing,  the  other  Y-chromosome- 
bearing,  such  double  fertilization  could  yield  a  gynandro- 
morph. Bridges  (Morgan,  Bridges  and  Sturtevant,  1925) 
came  across  such  a  dizygotic  gynandromorph  in  Drosophila 
melanogaster  in  a  back  cross  involving  the  recessive  char- 
acters speck  and  vestigial,  the  genes  for  which  are  resident 
in  the  second  chromosome.  The  right  side  of  the  body  was 
predominantly  female  and  displayed  the  character  speck; 
the  left  side  was  mostly  male  and  exhibited  the  vestigial 
wing  character.  The  ovum  had  two  nuclei,  in  each  of  which 
was  an  X  and  a  2nd  chromosome.  One  of  these  nuclei  united 
with  a  sperm  carrying  an  X  and  a  2nd,  the  other  with  a 
sperm  with  a  Y  and  a  2nd.  From  each  of  these  fertilized 
nuclei  one  side  of  the  body  developed. 

Egg  nucleus  Sperm 

Right  side  X  2nd  speck  X  2nd  vestigial  speck 

Left  side  X  vestigial  Y  vestigial  speck 

Only  rarely  was  it  found  that  these  dizygotic  mosaics  differed 
laterally  in  respect  of  the  sex-characters. 


CHAPTER   4 

SEX-DETERMINATION  IN  HABROBRACON, 
SCIARA  AND  LYMANTRIA  DISPAR 

Habrobracon.  As  long  ago  as  1845  Dzierzon  observed  that 
in  the  honey-bee  the  sex  of  the  individual  was  determined 
by  the  occurrence  or  non-occurrence  of  fertilization;  the 
egg  being  fertilized  gave  rise  to  a  female;  the  egg  not  being 
fertilized  and  developing  parthenogenetically  yielded  a  male. 
This  difference  was  later  interpreted  as  a  difference  between 
diploidy  (in  respect  of  the  chromosomes)  and  haploidy  and 
was  found  to  be  characteristic  of  the  hymenoptera  generally. 
The  possible  evolutionary  origin  of  this  haplo-diploid  sex 
determining  mechanism  has  been  reviewed  by  White  (1945) 
and  Whiting  (1945). 

When  Bridges  formulated  his  concept  of  genie  balance  it 
became  necessary  to  discover  whether  or  not  the  facts  relat- 
ing to  parthenogenesis  could  be  newly  interpreted.  Accord- 
ing to  this  concept  the  haploid  stated  yielded  maleness  as 
did  also  this  state  in  duplicate.  If  diploidy  was  to  yield 
femaleness,  then  the  two  sets  of  chromosomes  had  to 
be  qualitatively  different  so  that  where  iN=maleness, 
N+N'=femaleness. 

That  this  is  so  has  been  shown  by  Whiting  and  his  school 
working  with  the  wasp  Habrobracon  juglandis  which  is 
parasitic  on  larvae  of  the  meal  moth  Ephestia.  Torvik-Greb 
(1935)  showed  that  in  Habrobracon  the  female  is  diploid 
with  20  chromosomes  and  the  male  haploid  with  10.  The 
reduced  egg  has  a  set  of  10  and  the  sperm,  through  an 
aborted  reduction,  retains  10.  Fertilized  eggs  have  10+10 
and  give  rise  to  females;  the  same  eggs  unfertilized  develop 
parthenogenetically  into  males  with  a  set  of  10  maternal 
chromosomes. 

These  cytological  findings  are  in  harmony  with  the  sex- 
linked  mode  of  inheritance  displayed  by  certain  mutant 
forms.  Thus  when  a  female  with  the  recessive  mutant  orange 

30 


HABROBRACON  3I 

eye-colour  is  mated  with  a  wild-type  male  (black  eye- 
colour)  the  daughters  are  black-eyed  and  the  sons  orange- 
eyed. 

But  it  was  found  that  in  matings  in  which  the  orange-eyed 
mother  and  the  black-eyed  father  were  from  the  same  stock 
or  from  stocks  closely  related  through  inbreeding,  black- 
eyed  sons  appeared.  By  genetical  experiment  and  by  cyto- 
logical  examination  these  were  shown  to  have  received  a 
chromosome  set  from  both  the  father  and  the  mother,  having 
20  altogether  and  being  heterozygotes. 

The  hypothesis  elaborated  to  account  for  these  'biparental 
males'  rests  on  the  assumption  that  the  normal  female  is  a 
heterozygote  in  respect  of  two  sets  of  multiple  sex  alleles  or 
differential  chromosome  segments  which  for  purposes  of 
discussion  may  be  designated  X^  and  X^  respectively.  There 
are  two  kinds  of  the  normal  haploid  male,  X^  and  X^.  The 
'biparental  male'  is  aX^iaA  or  aX^iaA,  with  the  same 
genie  balance  as  the  ordinary  haploid  male  X^:A  or  X^:A. 
The  normal  diploid  heterozygous  female  is  X^:A/X^:A. 
So  that  the  male  is  N^  or  N^,  the  female  NVN^,  and  the 
'biparental  male'  N^/N^  or  N^/N^. 

The  fact  that  inbreeding  yielded  a  marked  increase  in  the 
production  of  'biparental  males'  resisted  satisfactory  ex- 
planation for  a  long  time  (Bostian,  1934;  Whiting,  1935; 
Snell,  1935).  Ultimately  Dordick( 1 937)  was  able  to  show  by 
a  number  of  ingenious  experiments  that  the  low  incidence 
of  biparental  males  (i  such  to  9  biparental  females  in  the 
ordinary  laboratory  stocks)  was  due  to  the  conversion  by 
gene  action  of  the  biparental  male  into  a  female,  the  gene  or 
genes  concerned  being  resident  not  in  the  X  but  in  another 
chromosome,  the  so-called  Z.  Thus  in  Habrobracon  the 
existence  of  multiple  sex-differentials  in  different  chromo- 
somes was  disclosed  and  the  notion  of  genie  balance  shown 
to  apply. 

Dreyfus  and  Breuer  (1944)  found  in  another  parasitic 
wasp  Telenomus  fariai  a  special  chromosome  mechanism 
which  makes  inbreeding  compatible  with  a  method  of  sex- 
determination  resembling  that  in  Habrobracon. 

In  the  Iceryini  the  sex-determining  mechanism  is  of  the 


32  SEX-DETERMINATION 

haplo-diploid  type.  The  genie  balance  concept  of  sex- 
determination  cannot  be  applied  since  the  ratio  of  male- 
determining  to  female-determining  genes  is  the  same  both 
in  the  haploid  male  and  the  diploid  female.  Formal  explana- 
tion is  possible  by  means  of  the  hypotheses  advanced  by 
Goldschmidt  (1920)  and  by  Schrader  and  Sturtevant  (1923). 
The  former  suggests  that  precocious  activity  by  the  male- 
determining  genes  in  the  diploid  dose  and  prior  to  reduction 
predispose  all  eggs  to  a  male  pattern  of  sexual  differentia- 
tion and  that  this  is  then  overridden  in  fertilized  eggs  by 
the  delayed  activity  of  two  sets  of  female-determining 
genes.  But  this  'turning-point'  hypotheses  is  not  gener- 
ally accepted.  The  algebraic  sum  hypothesis  of  Schrader 
and  Sturtevant,  helpful  and  ingenious  as  it  is,  is  not  suitable 
for  general  application. 

Sciara.  Metz  (1938)  and  his  colleagues  studied  the  genetic 
and  cytological  aspects  of  sex-determination  in  the  dipteran 
fungus-gnat  Sciara  coprophila  over  a  long  period  of  years 
and  have  recorded  much  that  is  remarkable.  A  given  female 
produces  offspring  predominantly  of  one  sex.  Among  the 
families  in  which  most  of  the  progeny  are  females  there  are 
two  types  of  females,  female-producers  and  male-producers, 
indistinguishable  on  inspection  and  in  respect  of  the  be- 
haviour of  their  chromosomes.  They  differ  genetically, 
however.  The  female-producers  may  be  designated  XX^, 
being  heterozygous  for  a  gene  in  the  X,  and  the  male- 
producers  as  XX,  being  homozygous  for  the  recessive  allele 
of  this  gene.  Males  are  genetically  XOiAA  in  somatic  con- 
stitution and  produce  one  type  of  sperm,  XXA.  A  given 
female  produces  the  same  kind  of  offspring,  whether  sons 
or  daughters,  irrespective  of  the  origin  of  the  male  to  which 
she  is  mated. 

The  mode  of  inheritance  of  certain  mutant  characters  is 
peculiar.  Metz  (1927)  used  an  autosomal  recessive  mutant 
truncate  wing.  Truncate  $  x  wild-type  ^  gave  none  but 
wild-type.  Some  of  the  F^  families  were  mostly  daughters, 
others  mostly  sons.  F.i  o  x  homozygous  truncate  ?  gave 
all  truncate,  daughters  in  some  families,  sons  in  others.  But 


LYMANTRIA    DISPAR  33 

when  truncate  male  was  mated  to  a  wild-type  female  and 
the  F.I  wild-type  males  back-crossed  to  truncate  females, 
all  the  offspring  were  wild-type.  The  male  had  transmitted 
to  his  offspring  only  that  allele  which  he  had  received  from 
his  mother.  This  matroclinous  inheritance  manifestly  differs 
from  sex-linked  inheritance  for  the  character  truncate  is 
distributed  alike  to  both  males  and  females. 

Metz  and  Schmuck  (1929),  using  a  sex-linked  recessive 
mutant  swollen  wing,  found  that  swollen  (^  x  wild-type  ? 
gave  all  wild-type  in  F.i  and  that  in  F.2  swollen  reappeared 
in  half  the  sons  in  the  male  families  but  in  none  of  the 
daughters  of  the  female  families.  Sw^oUen  ?  x  wild-type  ^ 
gave  swollen  sons,  the  swollen  females  all  proving  to 
be  male-producers.  Thus  the  mutation  had  occurred  in 
the  X  and  had  not  passed  into  the  X^  through  crossing- 
over. 

A  dominant  mutant  gene  'Wavy'  was  found  by  Metz  and 
Smith  (193 1 )  to  have  occurred  in  the  X^  and  not  to  have 
crossed  over  into  the  X. 

Thus  it  would  seem  that  female-family-production  is  a 
character  determined  by  a  dominant  gene  in  the  X  chromo- 
some (X^)  and  that  male-family-production  is  a  character 
based  on  the  recessive  allele  of  this  gene. 

The  reason  for  this  matroclinous  inheritance — the  male 
transmitting  to  his  progeny  only  those  genes,  sex-linked  and 
autosomal,  that  he  himself  received  from  his  mother,  his 
spermatozoa  lacking  the  paternal  chromosomes — has  been 
revealed  by  cytological  investigation  (Du  Bois,  1932). 
Femaleness  in  Sciara  is  determined  by  the  genie  balance, 
2X:2A=femaleness;  iX:2A=maleness.  The  dominant  gene 
(X^)  acts  by  so  conditioning  the  cytoplasm  that  in  the 
X^X:2A  constitution  one  paternal  X  is  eliminated  from  the 
nucleus.  The  XX:AA  constitution  leads  to  the  elimination 
of  two  paternal  X's  and  to  the  soma  of  the  male  becoming 
XO:AA. 

Lymantria  dispar.  The  term  intersex  was  first  used  by 
Goldschmidt  in  1925  to  describe  certain  sexually  aberrant 
types  that  he  had  described  in  191 1  and  which  had  appeared 


34  SEX-DETERMINATION 

among  the  offspring  of  the  mating  of  European  Lymantria 
females  and  Japanese  Lymantria  males.  This  mating  gave 
normal  sons  and  individuals  showing  a  mixture  of  male, 
female  and  intermediate  characters. 

It  has  long  been  known  to  entomologists  that  crosses 
between  different  geographical  varieties  of  the  Gypsy  moth 
sometimes  yield  these  sexually  aberrant  forms.  This  inter- 
sexuality  is  in  no  way  associated  with  any  corresponding 
abnormality  in  respect  of  chromosome  number  or  be- 
haviour. The  female  is  the  heterogametic  sex.  Goldschmidt 
(1920,  1 93 1,  1934)  was  able  to  classify  the  intersexes 
according  to  their  characterizations  into  two  main  types, 
male  intersex  and  female  intersex,  the  former  being  an  XX 
individual  which  exhibits  female  as  well  as  male  characters, 
the  latter  an  XY  individual  with  both  female  and  male 
characters.  The  intersex  is  a  sex  mosaic.  The  female  inter- 
sexes range  from  the  unexceptional  female,  through 
increasing  grades  of  intersexuality — i.e.  with  increasing 
degrees  of  maleness — to  complete  sex-reversal — i.e.  an  XY 
individual  that  is  a  functional  male.  A  corresponding  series 
of  male  intersexes  ranges  from  complete  maleness  to 
complete  femaleness. 

A  careful  examination  of  great  numbers  of  intersexual 
individuals  permitted  Goldschmidt  to  conclude  that  there 
was  indeed  a  time  seriation  of  events  in  the  development  of 
the  sex-characters — that  is  to  say,  that  all  the  structures  of 
the  sex  equipment  were  not  differentiated  at  any  one  time 
but  that  one  structure  of  this  equipment  appeared  before 
another,  and  so  on,  and  that  the  grade  of  intersexuality  was 
determined  by  the  relative  number  of  these  structures  that 
were  male  and  female  in  type  respectively.  It  appeared  that 
the  last  structure  of  the  sex-equipment  to  become  differ- 
entiated in  the  life  history  of  the  individual  was  the  structure 
most  commonly  affected  in  this  process  of  intersexuality, 
and  that  a  greater  number  of  these  structures  became 
affected  with  each  increasing  grade  of  intersexuality. 

The  original  matings  on  the  results  of  which  Gold- 
schmidt's  hypothesis  is  founded  were  as  follows: 


LYMANTRIA   DISPAR  35 

European?  x  Japanese  o=F.i:  all    sons    normal,    all    daughters 

intersexual 
F.2:  all  sons  normal,  half  daughters 
normal,  half  intersexual  (the 
grade  of  intersexuality  being  as 
that  in  the  mother.  Only  the 
lower-grade  intersexuals  could 
be  bred  from) 

Japanese  ?  x  European  o  =F.i:  sons  and  daughters  all  normal 

F.2:  all   daughters   normal,   half  sons 
normal,  half  intersexual 

For  purposes  of  description  and  discussion  Goldschmidt 
refers  to  the  Japanese  race  in  these  experiments  as  a  'strong' 
race,  and  the  European  as  'weak'.  Female  intersexuality  is 
produced  in  an  F.i  when  a  'weak'  female  is  crossed  with 
a  'strong'  male.  Male  intersexuality  is  exhibited  by  a  pro- 
portion of  males  in  the  F.2  of  the  cross  'strong'  female  x 
*weak'  male.  From  these  results  it  is  seen  that  sex-determina- 
tion is  a  phenomenon  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  genie 
balance,  sex  being  dependent  upon  a  particular  relation  of 
certain  determiners,  their  relative  'strength'  or  'weakness'; 
in  other  words,  a  balance  or  lack  of  balance  of  these  deter- 
miners. It  is  clear  that  these  determiners  are  of  two  kinds, 
one  of  which  shifts  sex  toward  the  female  type,  the  other 
toward  the  male. 

In  order  to  determine  how  these  sex-determining  factors 
were  transmitted,  Goldschmidt  carried  out  the  following 
breeding  experiments: 

A.  F.I  weak  2  x  strong  o  gave  cj'cJ  all  normal  and  ??  intersexual 
F.2  weak  $  x  strong  o  gavecJcJ  all  normal;  ??  half  normal,  half 

intersexual 
Backcross.  Weak  $    x    F.i   (weak  ?    x   strong  <^)  o   gave  ob* 

normal;  2$  half  normal,  half  intersexual 
Backcross.  Weak  $    x    F.i   (strong  $    x   weak  (J)  o   gave  36 

normal;  ??  half  normal,  half  intersexual 
Backcross.  F.i  (weak  ?   x  strong  o)  ?  x  weak  ^  gave  cJcJ  all 

normal;  $2  all  normal 
Backcross.  F.i  (weak  ?  x  strong  o)  ?  x  strong  o  gave  S6  all 

normal;  ?$  all  intersexual 

In  all  these  crosses  it  is  the  maternal  line  that  is  'w^eak'.  The 
results  show  at  once  that  the  'strength'  which  produces 


36  SEX-DETERMINATION 

female  intersexuality  is  transmitted  in  the  X-chromosomes, 
and  the  resuhs  are  exactly  what  would  be  expected  if  this 
intersexuality-producing  'strength'  is  a  property  of  the 
X-chromosome  of  the  'strong'  race.  They  show,  further, 
that  the  X-chromosome  of  the  'weak'  race  carries  the 
determiner  of  this  property  'weakness',  and,  finally,  they 
show  that  the  F.  i  females  behave  like  pure  'weak'  females. 

B.   F.I  strong  $  x  weak  cJ  gave  $$  all  normal;  ^(^  all  normal 

F.2  strong  $  x  weak  (^  gave  $$  all  normal;  (^<^  half  normal, 

half  intersexual 
Backcross.  Strong  $  x  F.i  (strong  $  x  weak  cJ)  (^  gave  ??  all 

normal;  ^<^  all  normal 
Backcross.  Strong  $  x  F.i  (weak  ?  x  strong  o)  o  gave  2$  all 

normal;  SS  all  normal 
Backcross.  F.i  (strong  $  x  weak  (J)  $  x  strong  (J  gave  $$  all 

normal;  c^cJ  all  normal 
Backcross.  F.i  (strong  $  x  weak  cj")  $  x  weak  (^  gave  ??  all 
normal;  dl*c?  all  intersexual 

These  results  show  that  the  property  'weakness'  (weak 
males)  is  transmitted  in  their  X-chromosomes,  that  in  these 
combinations  two  'strong'  X-chromosomes  or  one  'strong' 
and  one  'weak'  produce  normal  males,  two  'weak'  X-chromo- 
somes produce  intersexual  males,  and  that  all  the  mothers 
in  this  series  behave  as  'strong'  females  whether  they  belong 
to  a  pure  strong  race  or  whether  they  be  hybrids  out  of  a 
'strong'  mother  and  a  'weak'  father. 

If  the  two  lots  of  results  are  considered  together  it  is  seen 
that  'strength'  and  'weakness'  are,  firstly,  characters,  the 
determiners  of  which  are  carried  in  the  X-chromosomes  of 
the  respective  races,  and,  secondly,  that  'strength'  and 
'weakness'  are  properties  which  are  inherited  only  in  the 
female  line.  Sex  is  determined  by  a  definite  relation  or 
balance  between  the  respective  'strength'  or  'weakness'  of 
one  type  of  sex-determining  factors  inherited  maternally 
and  the  other  type  which  are  transmitted  within  the 
X-chromosomes.  It  is  seen,  further,  that  the  combination 
of  the  'weak'  maternally  inherited  determiner  with  a 
'strong'  X-borne  determiner  shifts  the  female  (XY)  toward 
maleness,  whereas  the  combination  of  a  'strong'  maternally 


LYMANTRIA   DISPAR  37 

inherited  determiner  with  two  'weak'  X-borne  determiners 
shifts  the  male  (XX)  toward  femaleness.  It  follows,  there- 
fore, that  the  X-chromosomes  must  contain  male-determin- 
ing factors,  'strong'  in  the  'strong'  and  'weak'  in  the  'weak' 
races,  and  that  the  female-determiner  also  'strong'  in  the 
'strong'  and  'weak'  in  the  'weak'  races,  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  X-chromosome  but  elsewhere.  Goldschmidt  has 
adduced  reasons  for  the  view  that  the  female-determining 
factor  is  resident  in  the  Y-chromosome.  Thus  sex  in  the 
Gypsy  moth,  he  suggests,  is  determined  by  a  relational 
balance  between  a  maternally  inherited  (Y-borne)  female- 
determiner  (F)  and  a  male-determiner  (M),  of  which  one  is 
present  in  the  female  and  two  in  the  male,  and  which 
is  borne  in  the  X-chromosome.  Intersexes  appear  if  in 
a  hybrid  combination  of  M  and  F  these  sex-determining 
factors  are  not  properly  balanced.  Goldschmidt  regards  the 
M  and  the  F  as  being  single  genes  for  the  reason  that  never 
in  thousands  of  crosses  has  any  result  been  obtained  which 
would  support  any  other  conclusion. 

His  results  can  be  illustrated  in  simple  fashion  by  the 
following  scheme:  In  the  Gypsy  moth  the  male  has  a  sex- 
chromosome  constitution  XX,  while  the  female  is  XY.  The 
male-determining  genes  are  resident  in  the  X-chromosomes, 
the  female  are  in  the  Y  and  are  therefore  restricted  to  the 
maternal  line.  But  Goldschmidt  gained  evidence  which 
forced  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  female-determining 
factors  borne  on  the  Y-chromosome  acted  prezygotically — 
that  is  to  say,  before  the  X  and  the  Y  chromosomes  in  the 
naturing  egg  had  separated.  The  physiological  effects  of  the 
action  of  these  Y-borne  genes  would  thus  pervade  the  whole 
of  the  immature  egg.  Two  kinds  of  eggs  would  be  produced, 
an  X-bearing  egg,  the  Y-chromosome  having  passed  into 
the  polar  body,  or  a  Y-bearing  egg,  the  X-chromosome 
having  passed  into  the  polar  body,  but,  in  respect  of  the 
female-determining  reactions  which  result  from  the  func- 
tioning of  the  Y-borne  gene,  the  X-bearing  egg  and  the 
Y-bearing  egg  produced  by  the  same  female  are  exactly 
alike. 

A  male  like  a  female  has  its  origin  in  an  egg,  but  in  the 


38  SEX-DETERMINATION 

union  of  an  X-bearing  sperm  with  an  X-bearing  egg.  Since 
this  egg  is  already  endowed  with  female-determining  pro- 
perties of  a  certain  valency,  the  symbol  for  male  must  be 
(MX)(MX)F  whilst  that  for  a  female  is  (MX)F.  In  order  to 
simplify  the  symbols  it  is  convenient  to  leave  out  the  X  and 
to  indicate  a  male  by  the  formula  MMF  and  a  female  by 
MmF  (the  small  m  indicating  that  only  one  X  chromosome 
is  present).  The  female-producing  tendency  of  the  cyto- 
plasm F  can  be  overcome  by  MM  but  not  by  M,  and  so  in 
each  generation  equal  numbers  of  normal  males  and  females 
are  produced  in  the  case  of  each  pure  race  of  Lymantria. 
The  explanation  of  the  appearance  of  intersexes  on  crossing 
different  races  turns  upon  the  assumption  that  the  intensity 
of  the  action  of  M  and  F  differs  in  different  races.  The  M 
and  F  in  L.  japonica  are  stronger,  and  exert  their  influence 
earlier  in  the  course  of  development,  than  the  M  and  F  of 
L.  dispar. 

The  relative  'strength'  and  'weakness'  of  the  sex-deter- 
mining genes  can  be  indicated  by  assigning  to  the  M  and  F 
numerical  values,  e.g.  M5  is  much  stronger  than  M3,  and 
M3  than  Mj.  F^  is  much  weaker  than  F3,  and  Fg  weaker 
than  F5.  Now,  consider  the  mating  of  a  'weak'  female 
(MamFg)  to  a  'strong'  male  (M5M4F4).  (It  will  be  noted 
that  the  male-determining  factors  of  the  male  have  a  different 
valency.  This  is  possible  since  the  two  X-chromosomes 
which  carry  these  come  from  different  parents  which  may 
differ  in  respect  of  the  valency  of  their  sex-determining 
factors.)  The  female  will  elaborate  two  kinds  of  eggs — one 
M2F3  and  the  other  mFg.  The  male  will  elaborate  two  kinds 
of  sperm — M5  and  M4.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  female- 
determining  factors  are  restricted  entirely  to  the  female  line. 
These  four  kinds  of  gametes,  two  from  each  side,  will  pro- 
vide the  following  types  in  the  F^:  M5M2F3;  M5mF3; 
M4M2F3;  M^mFg. 

Now,  sex  is  determined  by  that  kind  of  sex-determining 
reaction  which  is  in  effective  excess.  In  the  case  of  the 
M5M2F3,  M=7,  F=3— that  is,  M  is  greater  than  F.  The 
sex-chromosome  constitution  is  XX  and  therefore  this 
individual  is  a  normal  male.  In  the  case  of  the  class  M5mF3, 


LYMANTRIA   DISPAR  39 

M  is  greater  than  F,  so  that  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  this 
individual  is  XY  in  sex-chromosome  constitution,  that  is, 
genetically  a  female,  it  will  be  intersexual;  in  fact,  according 
to  the  argument  it  will  be  a  genetical  female  completely 
transformed  into,  and  functioning  as,  a  male.  Individuals 
M4M2F3  are  normal  males,  whilst  those  which  are  M^mFj 
are  genetically  females,  but  nevertheless  are  females  trans- 
formed into  males. 

A  survey  of  the  Central  European  and  Japanese  races  of 
Lymantria  has  provided  Goldschmidt  with  different  strains 
which  possess  all  kinds  of  combinations  of  'strong'  and 
*weak'  male-determining  factors,  with  'weak'  and  'strong' 
female- determining  factors,  and  by  the  use  of  them  he  was 
able  to  produce  any  percentage  of  intersexual  forms  and 
any  grade  of  intersexuality,  either  male  or  female,  at  will. 
Whilst  in  Japan  Goldschmidt  was  enabled  to  distinguish 
eight  different  strains  of  Lymantria,  and  an  elaborate  series 
of  breeding  experiments  permitted  him  to  arrange  them  in 
a  series  of  decreasing  strength.  The  differences  between  the 
extremes  of  this  series  were  greater  than  those  between  the 
European  dispar  and  the  L.  japonica  which  he  first  used. 
Indeed,  it  was  so  great  that  when  a  'strongest'  father  was 
mated  with  a  'weakest'  mother,  the  progeny  consisted  solely 
of  males,  half  of  these  being  chromosomally  males  MgMgF, 
whilst  the  rest  were  really  females  MgmF  in  which  the 
male- determining  factor,  introduced  from  the  strong  race, 
had  overwhelmed  the  female-determining  factor  of  the 
weaker.  The  'strength'  or  'valency'  of  the  sex  factors  differed 
for  each  race;  but  in  each  race  it  was  fixed.  Goldschmidt 
holds  the  view  that  this  fixity  is  really  quantitative,  depend- 
ing upon  definite  amounts  of  the  sex-determining  material 
present  in  any  case.  He  has  satisfied  himself  that  the  differ- 
ent degrees  of  strength  and  weakness  of  these  sex-deter- 
mining factors  reveal  the  existence  of  a  series  of  multiple 
allelomorphs,  but,  more  recently,  he  has  been  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  in  the  case  of  the  mating  'strong'  Japanese  x 
'weak'  European  a  pair  of  autosomal  allelomorphic  modify- 
ing genes  is  involved  which  affects  the  expression  of  male 
intersexuality.  Goldschmidt's  results  show  that  the  different 


40  SEX-DETERMINATION 

conditions  of  the  male-  and  the  female-determining  factors 
of  the  different  races  form  an  orderly  quantitative  series  in 
regard  to  their  effect  and  that  different  possible  combina- 
tions behave  exactly  as  if  the  different  degrees  of  strength  of 
these  genes  could  be  expressed  in  numerical  values. 

The  genetical  basis  of  sex  and  intersexuality  as  under- 
stood by  Goldschmidt  is  given  by  the  amount  of  balance 
or  imbalance  between  M  and  F  at  the  beginning  of  develop- 
ment. In  the  uneventful  differentiation  of  the  normal  male 
M  is  always  effectively  in  excess  of  F;  in  the  case  of  the 
normal  female  F  is  at  all  times  effectively  in  excess  of  M, 
but  in  the  development  of  the  intersex  the  relationship  of 
M  and  F  is  disturbed;  M  (or  F)  overtakes  and  replaces 
F  (or  M)  at  some  point — the  turning-point  or  switchover. 
The  effect  of  this  genie  situation  is  that  at  a  certain  moment 
in  development  the  switch-over  occurs  and  the  control  of 
the  remaining  events  in  sexual  differentiation  is  shifted  from 
the  F  to  the  M  genes,  or  vice  versa,  and  the  time  of  occur- 
rence of  this  event  is  the  simple  function  of  the  relative 
degree  of  balance  or  imbalance  between  F  and  M.  It  would 
seem  that  M  and  F  respectively  are  responsible  for  sex- 
determining  reactions  which  proceed  with  a  velocity  pro- 
portional to  the  strength  or  valency  or  quantity  of  these 
genes;  that  the  quicker  reaction  controls  the  sexual  differ- 
entiation and  that  the  two  curves  of  M  and  F  reactions  may 
have  points  of  intersection,  that  is,  at  the  switch-over,  if  the 
quantities  of  M  and  F  are  not  properly  matched.  If  this  is 
so,  then  it  should  be  possible  to  produce  abnormal  forms  by 
changing  the  relative  velocities  of  these  two  reactions  within 
a  pure  normal  race,  through  the  differential  action  of 
temperature,  for  example.  This  Goldschmidt  has  done  with 
positive  results,  producing  intersexuality  by  the  action  of 
extreme  temperature  within  a  pure  race. 

Winge  (1937)  offered  an  alternative  explanation  of  the 
observations  that  required  Goldschmidt  to  postulate  cyto- 
plasmic inheritance.  He  suggested  that  the  X-chromosome 
contains  a  preponderance  of  male-determining  genes, 
strong  (M  50)  in  the  Japanese  variety  and  weak  (M  10)  in 
the  European;  that  the  Y  has  a  preponderance  of  female- 


LYMANTRIA    DISPAR  4I 

determining  genes,  very  strong  (F  70)  in  the  Japanese 
variety  and  weak  (F  24)  in  the  European;  that  all  the 
autosomes  carry  sex-determining  genes,  some  male-  and 
some  female-determining,  and  that  in  the  Japanese  variety 
the  autosomal  female-determining  genes  are  strong  (F  20) 
and  weak  in  the  European  (F  4). 

By  the  use  of  these  assumptions,  which  are  exactly  like 
those  made  by  Goldschmidt  himself  elsewhere,  all  reference 
to  the  c\1;oplasm  can  be  avoided  and  the  facts  of  sex- 
determination  in  Lymantria  can  be  brought  into  line  with 
the  rest. 

Baltzer  (1937),  who  for  many  years  had  been  studying 
problems  of  sex-determination  and  of  intersexuality  in 
Bonellia  viridis,  found  himself  unable  to  accept  Gold- 
schmidt's  notion  of  the  turning  point  or  switch-over. 

This  marine  worm  in  its  larval  form  floats  on  the  surface 
of  the  sea.  When  it  settles  on  or  near  the  proboscis  of  an 
adult  female  it  thereafter  pursues  a  male  differentiation. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  chance  leaves  it  far  removed  from  an 
adult  female,  it  becomes  a  female.  If  the  young  individual, 
having  begun  to  differentiate  as  a  male,  is  removed  to  a 
distance  from  the  adult  female  its  differentiation  switches 
to  the  female  pattern  and  an  intersexual  form  results.  It  has 
been  shown  that  there  is  a  chemical  substance  in  the  female's 
proboscis  which  dominates  the  sexual  differentiation  of  the 
young  individual. 

These  events  relate  to  the  physiology  of  sex-differentia- 
tion and  not  to  the  phenomenon  of  sex-determination. 
There  may  or  may  not  be  a  chromosomal,  genetic,  sex- 
determining  mechanism  in  Bonellia.  If  there  is  it  is  over- 
ridden by  an  external  chemical  influence. 

Baltzer  is  satisfied  that  in  the  intersex  of  Bonellia  there  is 
no  purely  male  development  period  followed  by  a  female  de- 
velopment period  but  that  the  intersexual  organs  are  inter- 
sexual from  the  beginning. 


CHAPTER    5 

GENITIC  INTERSEXUALITY  IN  DROSOPHILA, 
CERTAIN  LEPIDOPTERA  AND  BIRDS 

Drosophila.  The  first  description  of  a  gene  in  Drosophila 
which  profoundly  affected  the  sexual  characterization  was 
that  given  by  Sturtevant  (1920)  in  D.  simulans.  In  a  par- 
ticular stock  it  was  noted  that  many  individuals  exhibiting 
a  definite  intersexual  condition  appeared.  They  were 
sterile,  but  the  mating  of  their  apparently  normal  brothers 
and  sisters  to  unrelated  stocks  commonly  produced  the 
same  abnormal  forms  in  the  Fg  generation,  the  sex-ratio 
being  of  the  order  of  4  males;  3  females,  i  intersex,  which 
suggested  that  these  intersexes  were  modified  females.  By 
the  use  of  sex-linked  genes  Sturtevant  was  able  to  demon- 
strate that  this  was  so,  and  further  breeding  experiments 
showed  that  the  agent  responsible  was  a  recessive  gene 
resident  in  the  second  chromosome. 

In  Drosophila  virilis  Lebedeff  (1934)  found  a  third 
chromosome  recessive  gene  which  transformed  the  XX 
individual  into  a  sterile  male  but  left  the  XY  individual 
unaffected.  Later  (1937)  Lebedeff  showed  that  the  XX 
individual  began  its  development  according  to  the  female 
pattern  and  that  later  male  organs  made  their  appearance, 
the  two  sets,  male  and  female,  continuing  thereafter  to 
develop  side  by  side. 

Bridges  (1921,  1922,  1925)  described  a  form  of  inter- 
sexuality  in  Drosophila  melanogaster  caused  by  an  altered 
ratio  of  sex-chromosomes  and  autosomes.  These  intersexes 
showed  complex  mixtures  of  male  and  female  parts.  They 
could  be  produced  by  breeding  from  certain  of  their  sisters 
which  were  to  be  distinguished  by  their  large  coarse  eyes, 
thick-set  bodies,  coarse  bristles  and  hair  pattern  on  the 
wing.  Cytological  examination  demonstrated  that  these 
intersex-producers  were  triploids,  every  chromosome  being 
present  in  triplicate  (3N).  All  the  eggs  produced  by  them 

42 


GENETIC  INTERSEXUALITY  IN  DROSOPHILA   43 

contained  one  full  set  of  chromosomes  and  part  or  all  of  an 
extra  set.  The  diploid  (2N)  eggs  fertilized  by  X-sperm  gave 
rise  to  3N  females;  fertilized  by  Y-sperm  they  gave  the 
intersexes  which  were  2X:3A  as  contrasted  with  the  2X:2A 
normal  female  (X=X  chromosome;  A=one  haploid  set  of 
autosomes). 

These  observations  made  it  clear  that  sex  was  determined 
not,  as  had  been  thought,  by  the  presence  of  one  X  or  two, 
but  by  the  balance  between  the  X  and  the  autosome  material, 
by  the  genie  balance.  Dobzhansky  and  Bridges  (1928)  car- 
ried this  w^ork  to  its  conclusion  to  find  that  X>A,  i.e.  that 
the  net  male-determining  tendency  of  a  set  of  autosomes  is 
less  than  the  next  female-determining  tendency  of  an  X. 

iX:2A=a  male 
2X:2A=a  female 

If  the  female-determining  tendency  of  the  sex-determin- 
ing genes  in  an  X-chromosome  is  represented  by  the  figure 
100,  then  the  net  male-determining  tendency  of  the  sex- 
determining  genes  in  a  set  of  autosomes  is  of  the  order  of  80. 

iX:2A 

100  160 

2X:2A 

200  160 

The  following  abnormal  types  could  be  expected  and 
were  to  be  explained  as  under: 


Sex-type 

Formula 

X=ioo 

A=8o 

Sex-index 

Superfemale 

2N 

3X:2A 

300 

160 

1-88 

Female 

4N 

4X:4A 

400 

320 

1-25 

3N 

3X:3A 

300 

240 

1-25 

2N 

2X:2A 

200 

160 

I  25 

iN 

iX:iA 

100 

80 

I  25 

Intersex 

4N 

3X:4A 

300 

320 

0-94 

3N 

2X:3A 

200 

240 

0-83 

Male 

2N 

iX:2A 

100 

160 

0-63 

4N 

2X:4A 

200 

320 

0-63 

Supermale 

3N 

iX:3A 

100 

240 

0-42 

44  SEX-DETERMINATION 

Most  of  these  sex-types  have  been  encountered  and  have 
been  found  to  conform  with  the  predictions  made. 

Sex-determination  would  therefore  seem  to  be  the  end 
resuh  of  a  quantitative  balance  between  X-chromosomes 
and  autosomes.  In  Drosophila  melanogaster  the  X  is  not  a 
determiner  of  sex  but  is  a  differential.  The  genes  that  are 
concerned  in  sex-determination  are  scattered  irregularly 
throughout  all  the  chromosomes,  sex-chromosomes  and 
autosomes  alike.  In  a  general  way  these  genes  are  to  be 
classified  as  female-  and  male-determining  and  the  two 
types  are  in  a  way  opposed  to  each  other.  In  the  X  the  genes 
for  femaleness  preponderate  over  those  for  maleness  so  that 
this  chromosome  is,  on  the  whole,  female-determining.  In 
the  second  and  third  chromosomes  the  male-determining 
genes  preponderate  over  the  female-determining  genes  and 
these  chromosomes  therefore  are  on  the  whole  male- 
determining.  The  fourth  chromosome  is  mainly  female- 
determining. 

*Both  sexes  are  due  to  the  simultaneous  action  of  two 
opposed  sets  of  genes,  one  set  tending  to  produce  the 
characters  called  female  and  the  other  to  produce  the 
characters  called  male.  These  two  sets  of  genes  are  not 
equally  effective,  for  in  the  complement  as  a  whole  the 
female-tendency  genes  outweigh  the  male-tendency  genes, 
and  the  diploid  (or  triploid)  form  is  a  female.  When  the 
relative  number  of  the  female-tendency  genes  is  lowered  by 
the  absence  of  one  X,  the  male-tendency  genes  outweigh  the 
female,  and  the  result  is  the  normal  haplo-X  male.  When 
the  two  sets  of  genes  are  acting  in  a  ratio  between  these  two 
extremes,  as  in  the  ratio  of  2X13  sets  of  autosomes,  the  result 
is  a  sex-intermediate — the  intersex.' 

The  use  of  fragments  of  the  X- duplications  of  various 
lengths  and  from  different  regions  of  the  chromosome  and 
of  deficiencies  of  the  X  by  Dobzhansky  and  Schultz  (1934) 
provided  experimental  proof  of  these  assumptions. 

Lepidoptera.  Standfuss  (1908)  crossed  Saturnia  pyrt  and 
S.  pavonia  and  then  back-crossed  the  F.  i  males  to  S.  pyri 
females  to  get  42  males  and  38  'gynandromorphs'.  Federley 


GENETIC    INTERSEXUALITY    IN    BIRDS  45 

(19 1 3)  mated  Pygaera  anachoraeta  females  with  P.  curtula 
males  and  back-crossed  the  F.i  males  to  P.  anachoraeta 
females  to  get  similar  'gynandromorphs'.  He  then  examined 
his  material  cytologically  to  find  that  the  haploid  number 
for  P.  anachoraeta  is  30  and  for  P.  curtula  29.  In  the 
spermatogenesis  of  the  F.i  males  all  59  chromosomes 
divided  equationally  so  that  the  'gynandromorphs'  received 
59  chromosomes  from  their  hybrid  father  and  30  from  their 
mother.  They  were  triploids  2X:3A  (possibly  +Y). 

Seiler  (1937)  obtained  similar  triploid  intersexes  in  the 
F.I  of  the  mating  of  females  of  the  tetraploid  (4N=i2o) 
parthenogenetic  variety  of  Solenohia  triquetrella  with  males 
of  the  diploid  (2n=6o)  bisexual  Niirnberg  variety  of  the 
same  species.  The  intersexes  had  90  chromosomes  and 
showed  a  mixture  of  male  and  female  parts  of  varying 
degrees  of  development.  Seiler  found  no  support  in  his 
material  for  Goldschmidt's  'turning  point'  hypothesis. 

Birds.  That  sex-determination  in  the  fowl  is  likewise  a 
matter  of  a  quantitative  balance  between  sex-  and  auto- 
somes was  strongly  suggested  by  Crew  and  Munro's  (1938, 
1939)  studies  of  gynandromorphism  and  lateral  asymmetry 
in  birds.  Several  instances  of  lateral  gynandromorphism  in 
the  fowl  have  been  reported.  In  such  the  size  difference 
between  the  two  sides  of  the  body  can  be  of  the  order  of 
10-15  per  cent,  and  the  gonads  are  different,  one  being  a 
testis  the  other  an  ovary  or  ovo-testis.  The  explanation 
offered  was  that  non-disjunction  of  an  autosome  had 
occurred  to  result  in  bilateral  heteroploidy,  there  being  the 
gain  of  an  autosome  on  the  larger  side,  its  loss  on  the  smaller, 
and  that  this  disturbance  of  the  quantitative  balance  be- 
tween sex-  and  auto-somes  was  responsible  for  the  gonadic 
differences. 


CHAPTER    6 

SEX-DETERMINATION  IN  FISH  AND 

THE  LOWER  ALGAE 

SEX  IN  PARAMECIUM  AND  FUNGI 

SEX-DETERMINATION  IN  BRYOPHYTES 

SEX  IN  THE  HIGHER  PLANTS 

Fish.  The  identification  of  the  sex-chromosomes  in  fishes  is 
difficult,  but  the  evidence  derived  from  genetic  experi- 
mentation with  Lebistes,  Aplocheilus  and  Platypoecilus 
has  shown  that  in  some  species  the  male  is  the  hetero- 
gametic  sex  and  that  in  others  he  is  homogametic. 

Winge  (1922,  1934)  has  produced  convincing  evidence 
that  in  Lebistes  reticulatus  there  are  several  mutant  genes  in 
the  Y-chromosome.  Spot,  a  large  black  spot  on  the  dorsal 
fin,  is  a  character  exhibited  by  a  certain  geographical 
variety  of  this  fish.  Spot  (^  x  5  of  a  variety  lacking  this 
spot=F.i  and  F.2  spot  males.  Non-spot  (^  x  5  of  a  spot 
variety=F.i  and  F.2  non-spot  males.  The  character  of  the 
father  is  transmitted  to  all  his  male  descendants.  Winge 
explained  this  by  postulating  that  the  male  was  XY  and 
that  the  spot  gene  was  Y  borne. 

Since  then  Winge  has  described  eight  other  characters 
that  in  inheritance  behaved  like  spot.  He  has  also  described 
eight  other  recessive  characters,  patterns  of  male  coloration, 
the  genes  for  which  are  presumably  resident  in  the  X  for  the 
characters  were  not  exhibited  by  the  F.  i  but  reappeared  in 
50  per  cent,  of  the  males  in  F.2.  Occasionally,  however,  an 
F.I  male  exhibited  the  character.  Winge  explained  this  by 
postulating  that  the  X  was  homologous  to  a  portion  of  the  Y 
and  that  crossing-over  had  occurred  between  these  homo- 
logous parts.  When  such  an  exceptional  F.i  male  was  used 
in  breeding,  all  his  sons  displayed  the  character. 

In  two  varieties  Winge  observed  a  marked  inherited 
tendency  toward  the  production  of  females  with  male-like 
gonopodia  and  remarkable  in  that  in  them  the  heterozygous 

46 


FISH  47 

characters  with  genes  in  the  X  showed  up  faintly.  He  inter- 
bred these  varieties  and  obtained  a  small  proportion  of  XX 
individuals  (according  to  the  genetical  evidence)  that  were 
males  in  appearance,  behaviour  and  function. 

When  these  XX  males  were  mated  all  of  their  progeny 
turned  out  to  be  females.  The  father  mated  to  his  daughters 
gave  none  but  females.  Mated  to  some  of  these  new 
daughters  he  produced  a  completely  male  individual  among 
the  progeny.  When  this  new  male  was  mated  with  his  sisters 
about  half  of  the  offspring  were  males. 

In  this  way  Winge  produced  a  new  kind  of  male,  XX 
instead  of  XY.  The  X  was  no  longer  the  sex-diiferential  and 
the  characters  based  on  X-borne  genes  were  exhibited  by 
both  sexes,  behaving  as  characters  based  on  autosomal- 
borne  genes.  The  new  fish  was  XX  male;  XY  female;  but 
the  sex- differential  function  had  been  assumed  by  an  auto- 
some through  the  accumulation  in  it  of  male-determining 
genes. 

It  now  became  possible  for  Winge  to  produce  YY  sons 
who  inherited  the  Y-borne  characters  from  both  father  and 
mother. 

Winge  concludes  that  male-determining  and  female- 
determining  genes  are  scattered  throughout  the  autosomes 
and  sex-chromosomes  alike  and  that  sex-determination  is 
the  outcome  of  the  specific  balance  betw^een  the  two 
kinds. 

Aida  (192 1,  1930,  1936),  working  with  the  Japanese 
Killifish  Aplocheilus  latipes,  obtained  results  completely 
parallel  with  those  of  Winge  and  offered  a  similar  inter- 
pretation. 

The  genetical  evidence  relating  to  the  Mexican  Killifish 
Platypoecilus  maculatus  and  obtained  by  Bellamy  (1928) 
pointed  directly  to  the  conclusion  that  in  this  species,  in 
contrast  to  Lebistes,  the  female  is  the  heterogametic  sex 
and  that  crossing-over  occurred  between  the  X  and  the  Y. 
In  two  broods  Chavin  and  Gordon  (1951)  obtained  none 
but  males.  The  female  parents  were  XX,  the  male  YY,  so 
that  all  the  offspring  were  XY,  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
normal  male  in  this  strain. 


48  SEX-DETERMINATION 

Lower  Algae.  Hartmann  and  his  colleagues  (1932)  have 
shown  that  different  strains  of  the  unicellular  Chlamydo- 
monas  eugametos  can  be  classified  into  two  groups,  desig- 
nated plus  and  minus.  Plus  cells  never  unite  with  plus  and 
minus  never  unite  with  minus.  In  certain  conditions  a  plus 
cell  fuses  with  a  minus  cell  to  form  a  diploid  zygote.  This 
undergoes  two  meiotic  divisions  and  gives  rise  to  4  haploid 
zoospores,  two  of  which  belong  to  the  plus  and  two  to  the 
minus  types.  They  behave  therefore  as  though  they  were 
different  and  contrasted  sexual  forms. 

Paramecium.  Sonneborn  (1947)  and  others  have  shown 
that  several  species  of  Paramecium  and  one  species  of 
Euplotes  are  divisible  into  mating  types  between  which, 
but  not  within  which,  conjugation  takes  place.  Within  a 
species  there  can  be  anything  up  to  eight  of  these  mating 
types.  If,  therefore,  these  mating  types  are  regarded  as 
sexual  types  they  provide  examples  of  the  phenomenon  of 
multiple  sexuality  which  is  encountered  also  among  the 
algae  and  fungi. 

Fungi.  Blakeslee  (1904)  showed  that  in  the  bread  mould 
Mucor  zygospores  are  sometimes  formed  by  the  union  of 
hyphae  from  the  same  mycelium,  being  homothallic,  but 
that  in  most  instances  zygospores  are  formed  only  when  two 
distinct  mycelia  come  together,  these  mycelia  being  sexually 
different  or  heterothallic.  Within  a  given  heterothallic 
species  every  individual  can  be  assigned  to  one  of  two  types 
plus  and  minus.  Two  plus  individuals  will  not  unite 
sexually,  neither  will  two  minus  individuals.  It  is  when 
plus  and  minus  mycelia  come  in  contact  that  zygospores  are 
produced. 

Bryophytes.  In  most  of  the  bryophytes  the  gametophytes 
are  haploids,  being  of  two  kinds,  one  female  (XA)  and  the 
other  male  (YA).  In  1917  Allen  described  the  large  X  and 
the  small  Y  of  Sphaerocarpus  donnellii  in  which  the  haploid 
female  gametophyte  has  seven  autosomes  and  a  very  large 
X,   the   male   gametophyte   seven   autosomes  and  a  very 


THE    HIGHER    PLANTS  49 

small  Y.  Since  then  (Allen,  1936)  some  thirty  other  bryo- 
phytes  have  been  shown  to  have  distinguishable  sex- 
chromosomes. 

Mackay  and  Allen  (1936)  have  found  X:2A  and  2X:2A 
female  gametophytes  and  2Y:2A  male  gametophytes  in 
Sphaerocarpus.  But  gametophytes  with  the  constitution 
XY:2A  were  found  to  be  intersexes.  Similar  polyploids 
described  by  Knapp  (1936)  indicated  that  the  male-deter- 
mining genes  preponderate  in  the  autosomes  and  that  the 
Y  was  neutral. 

The  Higher  Plants.  Sex-chromosomes  have  been  dis- 
covered also  in  the  angiosperms.  Santos  (1923)  found  24 
matched  pairs  of  chromosomes  in  the  female  and  23  matched 
pairs  and  an  unequal  XY  pair  in  the  male  of  the  dioecious 
Elodea  gigantea.  Since  then  some  fifty  dioecious  angiosperms 
have  been  shown  to  have  distinguishable  sex-chromosomes 
and  in  some  twenty  other  dioecious  species  no  such  discern- 
ible difference  could  be  detected.  It  would  appear  that,  as 
a  rule,  in  these  dioecious  species  the  male  is  the  hetero- 
gametic  sex.  Only  in  one  of  them  was  the  female  the  hetero- 
gametic  sex  and  only  in  one,  Dioscorea  siniiata,  was  the  male 
found  to  be  XO, 

Sex-linkage  has  been  encountered  in  Melandrium  (Baur, 
1912;  Shull,  1914).  In  this  form  Winge  (1923)  found  a  visibly 
distinct  XY  pair  of  sex-chromosomes  in  the  male,  the  female 
being  XX.  Other  sex-linked  characters  in  Melandrium  have 
been  described  by  Winge  (193 1),  who  showed  that  crossing- 
over  between  the  X  and  the  Y  occurred. 

The  monoecious  (haemophroditic)  Bryonia  alba  is  closely 
related  to  the  dioecious  (bisexual)  B.  dioica.  Correns  (1907) 
found  that  the  cross  B.  dioica  2  by  the  pollen  of  B.  alba 
gave  only  females,  occasionally  with  a  few^  male  flowers. 
The  reciprocal  cross  B.  dioica  (^  x  B.  alba  pistillate  flowers 
gave  females  (with  an  occasional  male  flower)  and  males  in 
equal  numbers. 

There  are  no  visibly  distinguishable  sex-chromosomes  in 
either  of  these  species  (Meurman,  1925).  The  hybrid  pro- 
geny are  all  sterile. 


50  SEX-DETERMINATION 

These  results  can  be  explained  on  the  following  assump- 
tions: {a)  2X:2A=$XY:2A=(^,  (b)  in  B.  alba,  which  is  a 
homozygous  strain,  all  individuals  are  females  modified  to 
give  staminate  flowers  by  a  male-determining  mutation  in  an 
autosome,  {c)  XX:A°iA°i=hermaphrodite.  All  the  progeny 
of  the  cross  B.  dioica  ^  x  B.  alba  (^  would  be  XX:AA°i  and 
are  females  with  a  tendency  to  produce  male  flowers.  In  the 
reciprocal  cross  the  females  would  be  XXiAA^^  but  the 
males  would  be  XY:AA°i  and  therefore  'stronger'  than 
B.  dioica  males. 

In  maize,  which  is  normally  monoecious,  a  dozen  and 
more  mutations  have  been  found  which  modify  the  expres- 
sion of  sex  (Emerson,  1924,  1932).  By  the  use  of  certain  of 
these  dioecious  strains  of  maize  have  been  produced.  These 
mutants  provide  strong  support  for  the  conception  that  the 
sex-characters  are  the  product  of  the  action  of  many  genes, 
some  male-determining  and  some  female-determining,  the 
end  result  being  decided  by  the  interplay  between  these  two 
kinds. 

In  Rumex  acetosa  Ono  (1935)  has  described  the  occur- 
rence of  triploidy.  The  normal  diploid  female  has  14 
chromosomes,  XX:6  pairs  of  autosomes.  In  the  male  there 
are  the  same  6  pairs  plus  XYY.  Individuals  with  the  con- 
stitution 2X+2Y+3A  were  found  to  be  intersexes.  In  this 
species  the  sex-determining  genes  on  the  X  are  pre- 
dominantly female-determining,  those  on  the  autosomes 
predominantly  male-determining,  and  the  Y  is  neutral. 


CHAPTER    7 

SPECULATIONS  CONCERNING  THE  EVOLUTION 
OF  THE  SEX-DETERMINING  MECHANISM 

It  is  possible  that  at  a  certain  stage  in  the  history  of  the 
earth  the  conditions  essential  for  the  appearance  of  life  pre- 
sented themselves,  never  afterwards  to  be  repeated,  peculiar 
in  respect  of  temperature,  pressure,  of  the  composition  of 
the  waters  and  of  the  gases  in  the  atmosphere  above  the 
waters.  It  is  possible  that  the  conditions  at  that  time  exist- 
ing led  to  the  appearance  of  living  matter  as  inevitably  as 
earlier  and  different  sets  of  conditions  had  led  to  the  form- 
ation of  the  seas  and  the  rocks. 

The  first  living  or  half-living  things  which  appeared  in 
the  waters  were  possibly  large  molecules  synthetized  under 
the  influence  of  the  sun's  radiation  and  capable  of  repro- 
duction only  in  this  particularly  favourable  medium. 

A  review  of  living  things  now^  known  to  us  permits  us  to 
assume  that  the  enzyme,  the  virus  and  the  bacteriophage 
are  perhaps  milestones  along  the  beginning  of  the  road  that 
life  has  passed  onwards  and  upwards  toward  its  inevitable 
destiny.  If  they  cannot  be  seen  they  can  be  recognized 
and  counted  by  the  effects  they  produce.  Muller  (1929)  has 
suggested  that  the  bacteriophage  is  a  gene.^  It  may  well  be 
that  life  remained  in  this  stage  of  its  development  for  many 
millions  of  years  before  a  suitable  assemblage  of  similar 
units  was  brought  together  in  the  first  cell.  There  must  have 
been  innumerable  failures,  but  the  first  successful  cell  which 
consisted  of  numerous  half-living  chemical  molecules 
suspended  in  water  and  enclosed  in  an  oily  film  found  plenty 
of  food  and  an  immense  advantage  over  its  competitors. 
From  this  original  simple  colloidal  complex  to  the  first  and 
simplest  unicellular  organism  known  to  the  biologist  is  a 

^  For  a  fuller  account  of  bacteriophage  and  of  its  nature  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Gardner's  excellent  monograph  on 
Microbes  and  Ultramicrobes  in  this  series. 

51 


52  SEX-DETERMINATION 

Step  as  vast  as  that  which  separates  the  latter  and  man.  We 
know  nothing  of  this  grand  procession;  we  can  but  con- 
jecture that  it  was  punctuated  by  the  development  of  various 
precise  mechanisms.  From  what  we  know  of  the  gene  today 
we  can  surmise  that  the  earliest  genes  consisted  of  molecules 
capable  of  determining  the  formation  of  similar  particles 
and  also  of  dissimilar  particles.  We  may  assume  that  repro- 
duction by  simple  division  attended  upon  growth  and  that 
every  few  hours  a  new  generation  of  these  units  was  sub- 
jected to  the  appraisal  of  the  selecting  factors  in  the  changing 
environment.  At  some  stage  in  this  eventful  history  there 
must  have  come  a  time  when  the  gene,  dividing,  became 
two  which  did  not  separate  but  which  remained  together  so 
that  the  beginnings  of  a  gene  company  would  be  evolved. 
Since  we  know  that  genes  in  such  a  company  can  mutate 
independently,  it  follows  that  through  the  increasing  com- 
plexity thus  resulting  advantages  possessing  a  survival  value 
would  be  conferred  upon  the  individual. 

The  benefits  of  gene  association  must  then  have  been 
made  more  permanent  by  the  development  of  mitosis, 
which  development  would  take  the  form  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mechanism  which  ensured  the  synchronous 
division  of  all  the  genes.  Thus  the  nucleus  would  be  evolved 
and  within  it  the  gene  associations  would  become  linear  and 
the  chromosomes  would  be  formed,  and,  for  their  exact 
division,  the  centrosome,  spindle  and  the  spindle  attach- 
ment would  be  evolved.  Fragmentation,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  new  spindle  attachments,  translocation,  together 
with  frequent  gene  mutation,  would  slowly,  surely,  build 
up  permanent  gene  associations  which  would  yield  different 
types  of  genie  balances  to  be  appraised  and  selected.  At  this 
stage,  sexual  reproduction  would  appear,  possibly  as  a 
result  of  a  gene  mutation  which  made  the  fusion  of  two 
individuals  inevitable.  Following  upon  this,  meiosis — a 
modification  of  mitosis — must  have  appeared,  bringing  with 
it  two  exceedingly  great  advantages;  the  maintenance  of 
constancy  in  chromosome  number  and  the  provision  of  the 
conditions  of  crossing  over  with  consequent  recombination 
of  genes  and  reconstruction  within  the  chromosome.  It  may 


EVOLUTION    OF   MECHANISM  53 

be  assumed  that  originally  this  modification  of  mitosis 
applied  to  all  mitoses  in  the  organism.  Later  developments 
would  be  restriction  of  meiosis  in  time  and  in  space. 
Ultimately,  as  living  types  evolved,  it  would  be  restricted 
to  certain  events  in  gametogenesis,  and  the  gametes  would 
come  to  be  constitutionally  haploid  cells,  and  the  diploid- 
haploid  mechanism  would  be  perfected. 

Next,  it  may  be  assumed,  came  a  differentiation  of  the 
gametes  to  yield  one  kind  that  was  fertilized  and  another 
that  fertilized.  Then  followed  the  development  of  homo- 
hetero-gamety,  one  type  of  individual  becoming  so  equipped 
that  perforce  it  must  elaborate  two  kinds  of  gametes.  This 
probably  was  affected  by  development  which  reduced 
crossing  over.  It  is  established  that,  in  Drosophila  at  least, 
there  are  genes  which  can  and  do  reduce  or  even  suppress 
crossing-over.  The  suppression  of  crossing-over  means  that 
qualitative  differences  can  arise  in  the  members  of  a  chromo- 
some pair,  and  that  these  cannot  be  transferred  from  one 
member  of  the  chromosome  pair  to  the  other,  so  that  in 
respect  of  these  qualitative  differences  the  individual 
maintains  a  constitutionally  heterozygous  condition.  It  is 
established,  further,  that  reduction  of  crossing-over  in  the 
case  of  one  pair  of  chromosomes  is  attended  by  a  similar 
reduction  of  crossing-over  in  the  case  of  all  the  rest  of  the 
chromosomes  within  the  chromosome  complex.  It  may  be 
assumed  that  this  suppression  of  crossing-over  occurred  in 
the  case  of  a  pair  of  chromosomes  which  later  were  to 
become  the  sex-chromosomes.  As  a  result  of  this  suppres- 
sion, two  chromosomes  would  evolve  independently  of  one 
another  and  would  ultimately  come  to  lose  all  qualitative 
relationship.  Following  upon  this  would  come  quantitative 
differences  between  the  members  of  the  sex-chromosome 
pair.  At  first  the  members  of  this  pair  would  be  alike  in 
external  structure.  Part  of  one  of  them  which,  because  of  a 
non-homology,  could  no  longer  pair  with  the  corresponding 
portion  of  the  other,  would  become  deleted  so  that  there 
would  now  remain  an  X-chromosome  and  a  Y.  The 
Y-chromosome,  by  further  deletion,  would  become  smaller 
and  smaller,  and  finally  the  whole  of  it  would  be  eliminated. 


54  SEX-DETERMINATION 

The  qualitative-quantitative  differentiation  of  the  sex- 
chromosomes  has  actually  been  observed  in  every  stage  of 
development  from  their  behaviour  at  prophase,  their  relative 
size  at  metaphase,  and  their  behaviour  at  meiosis. 

The  differentiation  of  the  sex-chromosomes  would  be 
followed  by  important  genetic  effects.  Since  mutations 
within  a  chromosome  can  only  be  tested  in  different  com- 
binations when  they  can  be  freely  distributed  by  crossing- 
over,  suppression  of  crossing-over  prevents  mutations 
occurring  in  the  Y  from  being  so  tested.  Since  crossing- 
over  does  not  occur,  the  Y  cannot  undergo  any  structural 
change  by  means  of  interchange  of  parts.  The  Y-chromo- 
some,  therefore,  during  its  evolution,  would  come  to  lose  its 
effectiveness  in  the  matter  of  sex-determination,  and  its 
place  would  be  taken  by  the  autosomes  interacting  with 
theX. 


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5 


58  SEX-DETERMINATION 

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GLOSSARY 

ALLELOMORPH.  Allelon,  onc  another;  morpha,  form.  One  of  a  pair 
of  alternative  hereditary  characters.  The  term  is  also  applied 
to  those  genes  which  can  occupy  one  and  the  same  locus  upon 
a  particular  chromosome. 

ANAPHASE.  Ana,  up;  phasis,  appearance.  The  stage  at  which 
daughter  chromosomes  move  apart  in  nuclear  division. 

ATTACHMENT,  (i)  The  spindlc  attachment,  q.v.  (2)  The  permanent 
fusion  of  two  chromosomes  (catination). 

AUTOSOMES.  Autos,  sclf;  soma,  body.  Those  chromosomes  in  respect 
of  which  both  sexes  are  alike. 

BALANCE,  GENic.  The  Condition  in  which  the  genes  are  so  related 
and  proportionally  adjusted  that  in  their  action  they  yield 
normal  development  of  the  organ. 

BIVALENT  (see  Univalent).  Bis,  twice;  valere,  to  be  worth.  A  term 
applied  to  double  chromosomes  formed  by  the  coupling  of 
two  chromosomes  especially  in  the  process  of  synapsis, 

CENTROSOME.  Kentroft,  centre;  soma,  body.  The  self-propagating 
body  which,  during  mitosis  in  many  organisms,  lies  at  the  two 
poles  of  the  spindle  and  appears  to  determine  its  orientation. 

CHROMOSOMES.  Chroma,  colour;  soma,  body.  Separate,  deeply- 
staining  bodies  commonly  rod-shaped  or  loop-shaped  into 
which  the  substance  of  the  nuclear  network  resolves  itself 
during  mitosis  and  from  which  the  nucleus  is  derived  at  the 
end  of  mitosis. 

CROSSING-OVER.  The  exchange  of  corresponding  segments  between 
corresponding  chromatids  of  different  chromosomes. 

DIPLOID.  Diploos,  double.  The  zygotic  number  of  chromosomes 
(an)  as  opposed  to  the  gametic  or  haploid  number  (n). 

DISJUNCTION.  The  separation  of  chromosomes  at  anaphase,  par- 
ticularly of  the  first  meiotic  division. 

FIRST  DIVISION.  The  first  of  two  meiotic  divisions;  the  heterotypic 
or  reduction  division. 

GAMETE.  Gametes,  spouse.  Cells  which  are  specialized  for  fertiliza- 
tion and  which  normally  cannot  develop  without  it. 

GENE.  Gen,  to  produce  or  producing.  The  unit  of  Mendelian 
heredity;  a  hypothetical  elementary  entity  which  determines 
the  development  of  a  particular  character.  To  the  student  of 
heredity  it  is  that  which  the  atom  is  to  the  chemist. 

GENOTYPE.  Genus,  a  race;  typus,  an  image,  (i)  The  genetic  constitu- 
tion of  an  individual.  (2)  A  class  or  group  all  the  individuals 
within  which  are  identical  in  their  genetic  constitution. 

GYNANDROMORPH.  Gyne,  woman;  aner,  man;  morphe,  form.  An 
individual  exhibiting  a  combination  of  male  and  female 
characters. 

62 


GLOSSARY  63 

HAPLOiD.  Haploos,  single.  Applied  to  the  reduced  or  gametic 
number  of  chromosomes. 

HAPLO-DiPLOiD  SYSTEM.  That  in  which  the  sexes  are  distinguished 
in  that  one  is  haploid,  the  other  diploid. 

HERMAPHRODITE.  Hermaphroditos,  combining  both  sexes.  An 
organism  with  both  male  and  female  reproductive  organs. 

HETEROGAMETic.  Heteros,  other;  gametes,  spouse.  Elaborating 
gametes  of  two  kinds  in  respect  of  the  elements  of  the  sex- 
determining  mechanism. 

HETEROKiNESis.  Heteros,  other;  kinesis,  change  or  movement. 
That  meiotic  division  in  the  course  of  which  the  sex-produc- 
ing gametes  become  separated  by  differential  distribution  of 
the  sex-chromosomes. 

HETEROPYCXOSis.  Heteros,  other;  pyknos,  dense.  Precocious  con- 
densation of  certain  chromosomes  in  the  prophase  especially 
of  meiosis. 

HETEROTYPIC  DIVISION. The  first  meiotic  division  (falling  into  disuse). 

HETEROZYGOTE.  Heteros,  other  ;  sygon,  yolk.  A  Mendelian  hybrid 
in  whose  genetic  constitution  there  are  one  or  more  recessive 
genes  and  which,  therefore,  does  not  breed  true.  The  off- 
spring of  a  mating  of  parents  which  differed  one  from  the 
other  in  respect  of  one  or  more  allelomorphic  characters. 

HOMEOTYPic  DIVISION.  The  sccond  division  of  meiosis  (falling  into 
disuse). 

HOMOGAMETIC.  Homos,  alike;  gametes,  spouse.  Elaborating  garnetes 
all  of  a  kind  in  respect  of  the  elements  of  the  sex-determining 
mechanism. 

HOMOZYGOTE.  Homos,  alike;  zygon,  a  yolk.  An  individual  in  whose 
genetic  constitution  each  gene  is  present  in  the  duplex  state. 
The  offspring  of  a  mating  of  two  parents  genetically  identical 
in  respect  of  one  or  more  Mendelian  characters. 

KARYOGAMY.  Karyoti,  nucleus;  gametes,  spouse.  Fusion  or  nuclei  at 
the  fertilization  of  an  egg  by  a  sperm. 

KARYOKiNESis.  Karyoti,  nucleus;  kinesis,  change  or  movement 
(=mitosis). 

MATRICLINOUS.  Mater,  a  mother.  Inclining  heredity  toward  the 
maternal  side. 

MATURATION.  The  ripening  or  final  stages  in  the  formation  of  the 
gametes  by  meiosis. 

MEIOSIS.  Meiosis,  reduction.  A  form  of  mitosis  in  which  the  nucleus 
divides  twice  and  the  chromosomes  once. 

MIDDLE  PIECE.  A  term  of  vague  meaning  applied  to  the  middle 
region  of  the  sperm. 

MITOSIS.  Mitos,  a  thread.  The  process  by  which  the  daughter 
chromosomes  are  separated  into  two  groups. 

NON-DISJUNCTION.  The  failure  of  separation  of  paired  chromo- 
somes at  meiosis  and  their  passage  to  the  same  pole. 

OOCYTE.  Oon,  an  egg.  The  egg  cell  prior  to  the  completion  of  the 
maturation  process. 


64  SEX-DETERMINATION 

OOGENESIS.  Gametogenesis  in  the  female. 

PARTHENOGENESIS.  Parthetios,  a  virgin.  The  development  of  an  egg 

without  activation  of  a  sperm. 
PATRICULINOUS.   Pater,   a  father.    Inclining  heredity  toward   the 

paternal  side. 
PHENOTYPE.  Phainein,  to  appear;  typos,  an  image,  (i)  The  sum  of 

the  characters  exhibited  by  an  individual.  (2)  A  group  or  class 

composed  of  individuals  all  of  whose  characters  are  alike. 
POLAR  BODY.  The  expelled  products  of  the  two  divisions  of  the 

oocyte  nucleus  in  animals. 
POLYPLOID.  Polys,  many;  aploos,  one-fold;  eidos,  form.  An  organism 

with  more  than  two  sets  of  homologous  chromosomes. 
REDUCTION.  The  halving  of  the  chromosome  number  at  meiosis. 
SEGREGATION.   The  separation  of  chromosomes  of  paternal  and 

maternal  origin  at  meiosis.  Genetically,  the  separation  during 

the  course  of  a  breeding  experiment  of  the  alternative  allelo- 

morphic  characters  involved. 
SEX-CHROMOSOMES.  Chromosomcs  in  respect  of  which  the  sexes 

differ. 
SPERMATOCYTE.  Sperma,  a  seed;  hytos,  a  cell. 
SPERM,  SPERMATOZOON.  The  male  gamete  in  animals. 
SPERMATOGENESIS.  Gametogenesis  in  the  male. 
SYNAPSIS.    Synapto,    to    fuse   together.    Chromosome   pairing   at 

zygotene. 
TETRAD.  Tetras,  four,  (i)  A  quartet  of  cells  formed  by  meiosis  in  a 

mother-cell.  (2)  The  four  chromatids  making  up  a  bivalent  at 

meiosis. 
TRIPLOID.  An  organism  having  three  sets  of  chromosomes. 
UNIVALENT.  A  body  at  the  first  meiotic  division  corresponding  with 

a  single  chromosome. 
x-CHROMOSOME.  A  sex-chromosome  of  which  one  sex  possesses 

one,  the  other  two. 
Y-CHROMOSOME.  The  sex-chromosome  which  is  the  mate  of  the 

single  X  in  the  heterogametic  sex. 
ZYGOTE.  Zygotes,  yolked.  (i)  The  cell  formed  by  the  union  of  the 

gametes   in  the  fertilized   egg.    (2)   The  individual   derived 

therefrom. 
ZYGOTENE.  Zygoti,  yolk;  taenia,  a  thread.  The  pairing  threads  and 

the  stage  at  which  they  occur  in  the  prophase  of  meiosis. 


AUTHOR   INDEX 


Aida,  T.,  47 
Allen,  C.  E.,  48 
Asana,  J.  J.,  15 

Baltzer,  F.,  41 

Bateson,     W.,     and     Punnett, 

R.  C,  6 
Baur,  E.,  49 
Bellamy,  A.  W.,  47 
Blakeslee,  A.  F.,  48 
Bostian,  C.  H.,  31 
Boveri,  T.,  13 
Bridges,  C.  B.,  21,  24,  27,  29,  42 

Chavin,  W.,  and  Gordon,  M., 

47 
Correns,  C,  5,  49 
Crew,   F.  A.   E.,   and  Munro, 

S.  S.,  45 

Dobzhansky,  T.,  and  Bridges, 
C.  B,  43 

and  Schultz,  J.,  44 

Doncaster,  L.,  5,  18,  29 

Dordick,  A.,  31 

Dreyfus,  A.,  and  Breuer,  M.  E., 

31 
Du  Bois,  A.  M.,  33 
Dzierzon,  J.,  30 

Emerson,  R.  A.,  50 
Evans,  H.  M.,  and  Swezy,  O., 
4,  21 

Federley,  H.,  44 

Goldschmidt,  R.,  32,  33 
Gross,  J.,  II 
Gulick,  A.,  13 

Hartmann,  M.,  48 
Henking,  H.,  10 
Hughes-Schraeder,   S.,   13,   15, 
16 


Kihara,  H.,  and  Ono,  T.,  10 
King,  R.  L.,  15 

and  Beams,  H.  W.,  16 

Knapp,  E.,  49 

Lebedeff,  G.  A.,  42 

McClung,  C.  E.,  10 

Mackay,  E.,  and  Allen,  C.  E., 

49 
Matthey,  R.,  16 
Mendel,  G.  J.,  5 
Metz,  C.  W.,  32 

and  Schmuck,  M.  L.,  33 

and  Smith,  H.  B.,  33 

Meurman,  O.,  49 
Morgan,  L.  V.,  26 
Morgan,  T.  H.,  23 

and  Bridges,  C.  B.,  28,  29 

and    Sturtevant,    A. 

H.,  29 
Morrill,  C.  V.,  13 
Muller,  H.  J.,  51 
Mulsow,  K.,  13 

Oguma,  K.,  15,  16 
Ono,  T.,  10,  50 


Paulmier,  F.  C,  10 

Ray-Chauduri,      S.      P., 
Manna,  G.  K.,  10 


and 


Santos,  J.  K.,  49 
Schrader,  F.,  27,  42 

and  Sturtevant,  A.  H.,  32 

Seller,  J.,  15,  45 

Sharman,     G.     B.,    Mcintosh, 

A.  J.,  and  Barber,  H.  N.^ 

10 
Shull,  G.  H.,  49 
Sinetv",  R.  de,  10 
Sneli;  G.  D.,  31 


65 


66  SEX-DETERMINATION 

Sokolovv,     H.     N.,     Tiniakow,  Torvik-Greb,  M.,  30 
G.  C,  and  Trofimov,  J.  E., 

IS 

Sonneborn,  T.  M.,  48  Weismann,  A..  4 

Standfuss,  M.,  44  White,     M.    J.     D.,     15,     16, 
Stern,  C,  27  30 

Stevens,  N.  M.,  11  Whiting,  P.  W.,  30,  31 

Sturtevant,  A.  H.,  27,  42  Wilson,  E.  B.,  11,  12 

Sutton,  W.  S.,  II  Winge,  O.,  40,  46,  49 


i 


SUBJECT   INDEX 


Abraxas,  5,  18,  29 

Algae,  48 

Anasa  tristis,  10 

Ancyr acanthus  cystidicola,  13 

Angiosperms,  49 

Aplocheilus,  46 

Bee,  30 
Beetles,  13,  14 
Bonellia  viridis,  41 
Brachystola,  1 1 
Bn-onia,  5,  49 
Br\'ophytes,  48 
Bugs,  13,  14 

Chlamydomonas  eugawetos,  48 

Dioecious  plants,  14 
Diptera,  14 
Dioscorea  siniiata,  49 
Drosophila  ynelanogaster, 

attached  X's,  26 

fertility  genes,  27 

genetic  intersexuality,  42 

gynandromorphism,  27,  29 

non-disjunction,  21 
Drosophila  simulans,  42 
Drosophila  virilis,  42 

Elodea  gigantea,  49 
Euplotes,  48 
Euscyrtus,  10 

Fish,  46 

Fowl,  15,  19,  45 

Fungi,  48 

Guinea-fowl,  15 

Habrobracon,  30 
Haemophilia,  21,  22 
Heterakis,  13 
Hierodula,  15 


67 


Homo-  and    heterogamety,  12, 
21 

Iceryini,  31 

Lebistes,  46 
Lepidoptera,  15 
Lygaeus  furcicus,  1 1 
Lymantria  dispar,  2  3 

Maize,  50 
Mammals,  14 
Man,  4,  21 
Mantis,  15 
Meiosis,  4 
Melandrium,  .49 
Mitosis,  4 
Mucor,  48 
Myriapods,  13 

Nematodes,  13 

Orphania,  10 
Orthopterans,  13 

Paramecium,  48 
Paratenodera,  15 
Paratylotropidia,  16 
Peafowl,  15 
Phasmids,  13 
Pheasant,  15 
Platypoecilus,  46 
Praying  Mantis,  16 
Protenor  belfragi,  12 
Pygaera,  45 
Pyrrhocoris  apterus,  10,  11 

Rat  kangaroo,  10 
Rumex  acetosa,  10,  50 

Saturnia,  44 
Sciara,  32 
Sex-ratio,  12,  16 
Solenobia  triquetrella,  45 


68  SEX-DETERMINATION 

Sphaerocarpus,  48  Telenomus  fariai,  31 

Spiders,  13  Tenebrio,  11 

Stagomantis,  15  Tenodera,  15 

Syromastes,  11,  12  Turkey,  15 

Talaeporia  tubulosa,  15  Woodcock,  15